Let The Music Play
by Xx-AddictedToTwilight-xX
Summary: Bella gets accepted into a summer music program where she meets the Cullens and the Hales. Edward already has a girlfriend, whom he thinks he's in love with, but when he meets Bella, everything changes. All human. Normal pairings.
1. Chapter 1

"Here we are, Bella!" Renee pulled up in front of a big, cream colored building. It looked exactly like it did in the pictures. Other kids who looked the same age as me were here- some carrying suitcases or boxes inside, some saying their goodbyes to their families. A few kids were even tearful. I was sad too, to not have my friend accompany me here, and to be alone for the entire summer, but I was sure I would make friends. Nervousness and excitement overpowered my sadness. California Institute of Music, I thought with a feeling of pride. The day I got my acceptance letter I was thrilled. The only thing that irked me was that I was required to take 2 classes. Our first preference was the longer class and we would be performing that instrument, or would be singing, in the case of vocals, at the summer ending concert. I had taken violin as my first preference and vocals as my second. I couldn't sing, but I didn't know how to play any other instrument either.

"Come on, Bella! Don't just sit there and stare. We've finally reached!" Renee was already out of the car and opening the trunk.

I got out and Phil handed me my suitcase. Phil was Renee's boyfriend. The only reason he came along to drop me off was to give Renee a ride back home. Its not that we didn't get along, we just weren't close enough yet to have reached the stage where he would come to say bye.

"Thanks, Phil" I muttered.

"Well I guess this is goodbye, honey!" Renee was dabbing at her moist eyes as she pulled me into a hug.

"I'll miss you, Mom" Renee started to cry more.

"Don't forget anything I told you. You can call anytime. It doesn't matter if its midnight or noon. Keep in touch. I'll miss you. Love you." Renee ended, wiping at her eyes.

"Love you too, Mom. Bye, Phil." I gave Renee one last hug before picking up my suitcase and heading inside. I'll park the car later, I decided. I had to get my dorm number and put my suitcase away first.

Once inside, I joined a line to get the details for my stay here. As the line inched forward, I began to wonder about how things were going to be. Who would be my room mates? What if she or he didn't like me? I hoped they're good people. My classes would be interesting enough. I just hoped I'm not the worse here. Okay, I was starting to worry too much. Calm, Bella, calm. Worrying isn't going to do you any good.

I had reached the desk by the time I finished calming myself down. A flustered looking lady with curly red hair glanced up at me before asking, "Name?"

"Isabella Swan." I replied, watching as the lady, whose nametag read Mrs. Cope pull out a file with a big 'S' on it. "Swan… Swan…" She muttered under her breath before pulling out a few pages stapled together.

"Here you go, dear. Your dorm number, building, room mate's details and schedule are in here. If you need anything, or have any questions, there are contact numbers on the last page. I hope you have a nice and enjoyable experience here!" She said this all in one breath and I found myself staring at her for a second before blinking. It was obvious she had memorized it. I thanked her and gave her a smile. I dragged my suitcase back outside and sat down on the steps. I was in dorm #34 in Percussion Building. Not very original, naming buildings after instruments. I put my suitcase back into my car and looked at the map of the campus included in the sheets. Percussion Building was in the corner of the campus. I traced the route there and then drove over, eager to meet my new roommate for the summer. Wait a minute, Mrs. Cope said room_mates_, which meant I had more than one roommate. I parked in the parking lot outside the building and looked through the papers once again. I had two roommates: Alice Cullen and Rosalie Hale. Alice and Rosalie were from Forks, Washington. Hopefully they're nice, I thought, worrying again. I locked the car and dragged my suitcase inside the building. Spotting an elevator, I head over and saw a building map. #34 was on floor 3. There were 10 rooms per floor, 9 on the ground floor. Rooms 1-9 were on the ground floor, 10-19 on the 1st floor, etc.

The elevator came to a stop and I walked down the hallway, searching for room 34. It was on the left side. I took a deep breath and knocked hesitantly. I didn't know if someone was already inside. Then I figured, it's my room too. Not waiting for an answer, I opened the door and walked inside. A small, pixie like girl was hanging up clothes in the closet. When she heard me come in she turned around. She had short, spiky black hair and was beautiful. She had grey eyes and small, perfect features. She smiled at me and ran over.

"Hi! I'm Alice Cullen. I'm guessing you're Isabella Swan." She said, really fast.

I smiled at her too. Her enthusiasm was contagious. "Just call me Bella." I pulled my suitcase inside and studied the room. The walls were painted a light, baby blue. The room was bare, except for 3 beds in a row opposite from the door and 3 desks. Alice had already claimed the right most bed by putting her suitcase on it. Or rather, suitcases. She had 3 suitcases, each only a little smaller than mine. I put my suitcase on the middle bed and turned to her with my eyes wide. "Alice? You do realize we'll be here only for the summer, right?"

She looked at me with an odd expression. "Yes. Why are you asking?"

"You brought 3 suitcases! For just the summer!"

"Of course, Bella. I couldn't decide between some stuff so I decided to bring them all!" She said it in a tone which implied that it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Just then the door was flung open and a tall, gorgeous girl entered. She had blonde hair that went down till the middle of her back and blue eyes. She looked like a runway model.

"Rose!" Alice squealed and ran to the girl. "We're roomies!"

The girl, Rose laughed. "I know! I was so happy when I was your name on the list of my roommates. You and some other girl…Isabella, I think." She hadn't noticed me yet.

I stepped forward. "Hi. I'm Isabella Swan, but you can call me Bella." I tried not to think how I, plain old Bella with brown hair and brown eyes, looked next to Alice and Rosalie. I felt myself blushing. That was another thing I didn't like about myself. I would turn as red as a tomato at any little comment. And not to mention that they were already friends, which made me feel a little left out.

"I'm Rosalie Hale. Feel free to call me Rose." She walked over to the last bed and put her two large suitcases on it. "Well, I see Alice has already claimed one closet. Of course she just had to unpack her precious clothes the second she steps in."

Rosalie started to unpack her clothes. I began to unpack too. We worked in a comfortable silence for a few minutes until Alice finished her clothes. For such a small person, she could get things done surprisingly fast. She was the only one finished, so she sat herself on my bed and began to talk. "So, Bella, where are you from?"

"Phoenix, Arizona. I live there with my mom. Where do you live?"

"Forks, the rainiest place EVER. It's in Washington, in case you haven't heard of it. Rose lives there too." She threw her hands up to express herself.

"You'd be surprised. I was born in Forks and have visited the place every summer till the age of 12. My dad lives there," I explained. I must have been really unobservant this morning, passing over the fact that both Rosalie and Alice are from Forks.

"Oh! Do I know him? Forks is a really small place."

"You probably do. My dad is the police chief, Charlie Swan."

"Oh. Oh!" Her eyes grew wide with realization. Rosalie watched her, amused. "You're Isabella _Swan_. I can't believe I didn't make the connection."

"Relax, Alice." Rosalie cut in. "I'm sure there are a lot of Swans out there. So, Bella, tell us a bit about yourself."

"Well… My mom and dad got divorced when I was a baby. I've lived with my mom ever since. I don't have any brothers or sisters. I'm going to be a junior this year. I play the violin. Vocals are my second preference. What about you guys?"

Alice answered first. "I'm the youngest in my family. I have two brothers, Emmett and Edward. Edward and I are starting our junior years too! Emmett is going to be a senior. I play the electrical guitar. My brothers are here too. Emmett plays the drums and Edward plays the piano."

"Wow. You guys are sure one talented family. What do your parents do in Forks?"

"My dad, Carlisle Cullen, is the head doctor in the hospital. My mom does a lot of charity work. We only moved to Forks a couple of years ago. We lived in Alaska before that."

"I have a twin brother, Jasper. He's here too. We're both starting our senior years. I play the flute and Jasper plays the sax. My dad is a lawyer. I've met your dad a couple of times, when he came over to give my dad some information on cases he was working on. I'm dating Alice's brother Emmett, and she's dating Jasper. The five of us are best friends." Rosalie had finished unpacking too, and had settled herself on my bed.

"Okay, I'm finished too. It's already 6:30. Why don't we head down to the dining hall?" I was getting hungry.

Alice sat up and eyed me. "Bella, you can't be serious. Are you going to go to the dining hall in _sweats_?" She said the word like it was something bad. Rosalie eyed me too.

"Yeah. I am. They're comfortable, and I don't really care how I look." I was never one for fashion or dressing up.

"Bella, we are going to dress you. Please?" Alice looked at me with a heart breaking expression. She was pouting and had puppy dog eyes.

"Oh, fine!" I gave in. Alice jumped up from the bed and ran over to the closet. She started rummaging through it and then pulled out my dark slim fit jeans and a red t-shirt.

"Put that on," She instructed. I changed quickly. Rosalie passed me my jeans jacket.

"It's going to be chilly outside." Then she pulled something out of her closet. "Wear these." It was red ballet flats. I slipped them on. Alice pushed me onto the bed and started applying eyeliner and the lip gloss.

"Alice! We're only going for dinner!" Who wears make up just to go eat dinner in the campus dining hall? She ignored me.

"You don't need any blush … You have natural coloring." I felt my face flush at that remark and I was sure Alice saw it too. She smirked.

"Alice! Bella! Hurry up! I sent a text to the guys and told them to meet us at the dining hall in 10." Rosalie was already at the door, tapping her feet impatiently. "How far is it from here?"

"I think it's only a few minutes." I answered. I dashed back inside and grabbed the map. "Yup. It doesn't look too far from here." We walked to the dining hall, discussing what we would need to get for our room. We had decided on dark blue sheets to match the wall, blue curtains, and a blue rug by the time we reached the dining hall. We were going shopping tomorrow. We had entered through the double doors when I felt myself tripping over my own feet, my klutzy-ness coming to power. I flung my hands forward, ready to protect myself when I felt two strong, cold hands wrap around me and break my fall.


	2. Chapter 2

I looked up to see who my savior was only to be faced by a wide chest. I steadied myself and stepped out of the grasp of an extremely big man with curly dark hair. I felt myself turn red and looked at my feet. Then I heard Rose and Alice laughing and I glared at them.

"Sorry, Bella" Alice gasped. "It was just so funny! You didn't even trip over anything!"

"Yeah, Alice, it was just hilarious." I snapped back. "You try falling over your own feet almost ten times a day." I turned back to the man with curly hair. "Thanks."

"No problem." He grinned at me.

"This is my brother, Emmett. You know, Rose's boyfriend." Alice introduced us. "Emmett, this is our roommate and new friend, Bella Swan."

"Hi, Bella. You could give a tomato a run for its money." I groaned and flushed even more.

"Thanks, Emmett." I said sarcastically. "I appreciate that." We walked over to the line and got some food to eat. I sat down with Alice, Rose and Emmett.

"So, Emmett, do you know where Jasper is? Who are your roommates?" Alice asked Emmett.

"I'm rooming with Jasper and Edward! Isn't that awesome?" He squealed like a 5 year old girl. "Edward was talking to Tanya on the phone when I left. Jasper was waiting for him. I couldn't wait though. I'm starved!" He dug into his food. I stared at him. He acted like a little kid, rather than a senior in high school. Just then we were joined by a blonde haired boy. He leaned over and gave Alice a kiss on her cheek. I assumed he was Jasper. He had blue eyes, like Rose, and was good looking.

"Hi guys!" Alice said. She looked at me. "This is Jasper," she pointed at the blonde. "He's Rose's brother and my boyfriend. He's also Emmett's and Edward's best friend."

"Hi," I said shyly. I started to introduce myself but Alice cut me off.

"This is Bella. She's our roommate." Jasper smiled.

"Hi Bella." He said. I smiled back at him.

"Guess what? Bella's from Forks too!" Rosalie announced. Emmett and Jasper looked surprised.

"How come we've never seen you before? Forks is a small place." Emmett asked, looking at me intently, probably trying to see if he remembered me from somewhere.

"Well I'm not really _from_ Forks. I don't live there. I was born there. But now I live in Phoenix, with my mom. My dad lives in Forks."

"Do we know him?" Jasper asked.

"Why does everyone from Forks think they know everyone else who lives there? But yes, you may know him. He's the police chief of Forks." Actually, I was sure he would know him. Not because Rosalie mentioned it earlier, but because Charlie had lived in Forks his whole life. So did his parents. _Everyone _knew him.

"Hmm. Swan, right?" Emmett asked. I nodded. "So you're Charlie Swan's daughter, Bella Swan. How come no one has heard of his daughter before? Don't you ever visit him?"

"I visited him till I was 12. Then I decided I had had enough of the green. And the wet." I added, as an afterthought. I decided it was time to steer the conversation away from myself. "So, Jasper, you play the sax, right? And Emmett, you play the drums?" Total opposites.

"Yup." Emmett answered for both of them. Rosalie cut in.

"Do you guys want to come shopping with us tomorrow?" She looked up through her eyelashes to Emmett. He stuttered.

"Sh-shopping? Tomorrow?" He squeaked out. Rosalie nodded, still entrancing him. "Sure. I'm in." Alice turned to Jasper and pouted at him.

"Please Jasper? For me?" He nodded.

"Sure, I guess. Bella, why on earth did you agree to go shopping?" I was confused. What was wrong?

"Why? What's wrong?" Confusion filled my voice. Emmett looked at me like I was crazy.

"You have no idea what you've put yourself up for." He shook his head. "No idea. You should never volunteer to shop with Alice." The rest of the evening was passed with us talking about random topics and laughing at Emmett's silly jokes. At first glance, no one would guess that he was so funny. At one point Alice realized her other brother hadn't turned up, but Jasper informed us that he was staying in the dorm, alone. He said he had gotten into a fight with his girlfriend, Tanya. When Tanya's name was mentioned everyone at the table made a face. I was surprised. Didn't they like their brother's, or in Rose's and Jasper's case, friend's girlfriend?

We finally left the dining hall at 9:30 in the night. We made plans with Jasper and Emmett to meet at our dorm tomorrow at 9:00. I groaned internally. On any other Saturday I wouldn't be out of bed until noon. I was not a morning person. We reached our room and I flung myself across my bed. It had been a long day. I closed my eyes and sighed. When I opened them again I found Alice and Rosalie watching me.

"You're not going to sleep already, are you?" Alice asked.

"I was planning to. Its been a long day and I'm tired." I scrambled for some excuse to please Alice. "Don't you want me to be alert and active for tomorrow's shopping trip? Would you like a zombie accompanying you?" I asked with a look of fake innocence. She grimaced.

"You're right. I can't have you tired while we go shopping." I remembered something's that Emmett said earlier and decided to ask her about it.

"Alice? Why did Emmett say I shouldn't have agreed to go shopping with you?" Alice made a face.

"Because he's totally unsupportive of my passion for shopping." Passion? I didn't think _shopping _was something people had passions for. Rosalie noticed my confusion and laughed.

"What Alice means is that shopping is her hobby." She explained. I had one more thing to ask them.

"Um, there's one more thing I wanted to ask you. I don't want you to think I'm prying or anything, but I noticed that when Jasper said that Edward was talking on the phone to his girlfriend Tanya, you all made faces. Do you not like her?" I was hesitant about asking this. I didn't know if they considered me a close enough friend to tell me.

"Well… It's just that Edward is a great guy. He could do so much better than Tanya." Alice said.

"Oh… Okay, I'm going to sleep now. Good night." I covered myself with the boring white sheets the Institute had provided us and fell into a deep sleep.

"Bella! BELLA! Wake up!" I groaned and rolled over, covering my ears from Alice's voice. I opened my eyes and glanced at my watch.

"Alice, its only 7:00!" Who wakes up at 7 on a weekend?

"Exactly! Its already 7! That means you have only 2 hours to eat and get ready to meet the guys at 9. Only 2 hours." She stressed on the last part, bringing her face in front of mine. "Now get up!" I was pulled out of bed by Alice and Rosalie. I dragged myself to the bathroom where I brushed my teeth and had a shower. I wrapped my bathrobe around myself and stepped out of the bathroom. Alice had already showered and was dressed. Rose had been waiting for me.

"Sorry I took so long," I apologized.

"Bella! I looked at your clothes and some of them are ok. We're going to have to buy you some new ones today though." Alice said. I narrowed my eyes.

"You looked through my closet?" I walked over to see if she had done any damage. I didn't see anything out of place.

"Yup," She said, not bothering to hide that she wasn't sorry for what she did. I just shook my head and pulled out a purple full sleeve t-shirt and a knee length jeans skirt. Alice came over to me with her makeup kit in her hand.

"Alice," I groaned. "I don't like makeup."

"Well we're going to have to change that, won't we?" She said. She applied light brown eye shadow, eyeliner, mascara and clear sparkling lip gloss. "There," She announced, pleased by her work. Rosalie finished her shower and got ready. It was already 8:30.

"I'm not really hungry, guys. Maybe we should get something to eat from the mall instead." I said. Rose and Alice agreed. We ended up playing 20 questions to pass time until the boys were ready and to get to know each other better. It wasn't really necessary for Alice and Rosalie since they had been best friends for 2 years, but I got to know some stuff about them. I found out the Alice loved rock music, while Rosalie liked modern pop. Alice's favorite movie was She's The Man. All of us liked watching the TV show Friends.

We didn't realize it was past 9:00 until Alice's cell phone starting ringing. It was Jasper, telling us that he and Emmett were waiting outside. I grabbed my car keys and we went down to meet them.

"Hey girls," Emmett said, once we were within hearing range. We started towards the parking lot.

"Whose car are we taking?" I asked. I owned a 53' Chevy and I was sure that we wouldn't be going in that. I loved my car- it had personality. It didn't go above 55 though. A lot of people considered that a drawback.

"Mine" Rose said. She pointed to a red BMW. Wow, I thought. She had a great car. We got in, Rosalie driving and Emmett in the passenger seat. I called a window seat and Alice sat in the middle. Rosalie didn't seem to find the need for a speed limit. I clutched the door on one side and Alice's arm on the other.

"Rose! Slow down!" She just laughed. "What speed are you going at?" I asked, cautiously.

"Relax, Bella. Its only 90." _Only _90? Was she kidding? We reached the mall in half an hour. If I was driving, we would only make it in an hour. As soon as we were out of the car, Alice started bouncing on her feet.

"Okay, guys, here's the plan. We grab something to eat, and then we go into the closest clothes store. Then we work our way around the mall. I have to see every part of it for future shopping trips." She grabbed my hand and started dragging me to the entrance, the others following us. After getting a sandwich each at the food court, we went into Pepe Jeans. Not finding anything there, we went to Forever XXI.

"Alice," I groaned. This was the fifth top she had picked out for me. "I need a break from clothes, okay? I saw a Coles and I need to buy some books. I have my cell phone so I'll call you when I'm finished." I darted out of the store before she had a chance to stop me. Finally! If she asked me my opinion on one more thing, I swear, the outcome would not be good.

I stepped into Coles and made my way to the classics section. I picked out Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen and settled down on the comfy sofa to read for a while. I had left my copy in Phoenix, and there was no point in buying a new one, seeing as I would have two copies when I went back home. I lost myself in the book, forgetting my surroundings and the fact that Alice may be waiting for me.

About 45 minutes had passed when I finally looked up from the book, and to my watch. "Crap!" I muttered. Alice was going to kill me. I replaced the book on the shelf and left the shop. I turned right, thinking that was the way back to Forever XXI, collided with something, and fell down. Okay, so maybe that something was a _someone_ talking on the phone and not focusing on where he's going. But it was a very handsome someone. He was really tall, maybe because I was sprawled on the ground, but I could tell that even if I stood up I would be short, compared to him. He had bronze hair, which was arranged into casual disarray. And his eyes… I felt myself getting lost in his emerald green eyes. He had perfect features. I could see his toned body under the green shirt and dark jeans that he was wearing. He ran his hand through his hair, making it even more of a mess, while closing his phone. I got up slowly, still staring at him. Then he glared at me.

"Can't you look to the side before just turning and walking?" He snapped. I opened my mouth and closed it, unable to form a coherent thought.

"I-I was-" I started, only to be cut off with his sneering

"Yes? You were?" He said, raising his eyebrows. I narrowed my eyes and forced myself to look away from his eyes. This was getting out of hand. Sure, I hadn't been looking, but it didn't look like he was paying attention either.

"What about you, talking on the phone, not paying attention. Did you expect everyone to make way for you?" I asked. He smirked at me. Why was I even wasting my time here? "Ugh. Whatever." I said, and turned on my heel. Once I turned a corner, however, I looked around and made sure I was out of his sight. I pulled out my cell phone and called Alice.

"Bella?" She answered.

"Hey Alice," I said, trying to keep the anger out of my voice. Now that I was away from him, I was angry. What he said was true. I hadn't looked to the side before turning, which caused me to bump into him. It was my fault. "Where are you? I'm finished with the bookstore."

"Oh, good!" She squealed. "Emmett was hungry so we came to the food court. Can you come here?" I sighed. Of course Emmett was hungry.

"Sure. See you in a few." I closed the phone and made my way to the food court which was on the level above. Once I reached there I scanned the tables for a glimpse of one of them. I had caught sight of Jasper's blonde head and was walking over to them when I saw another very familiar bronze head sitting next to Alice. No, I thought. It must be someone else. As I thought this, I knew I was lying to myself. That color hair was very uncommon. And what were the odds that there would be two tall bronze haired people in the mall today? I had reached them and was standing behind Jasper.

"Hi guys," My voice came out uneven. They all turned to me and _his_ green eyes narrowed. Looks like he hasn't forgotten me. I narrowed mine too.

"Bella!" Emmett boomed. He patted the empty chair in between him and Jasper. I sat down and looked away from _him_. He was smirking in my direction.

Alice motioned towards _him_. "This is my brother, Edward. Edward, this is my roommate and friend, Bella."

"Pleasure to meet you, Bella" He said in a cold voice. I nodded in response.

This was going to be a long summer.

**So Bella finally met Edward!! Review!!**


	3. Chapter 3

"Bye Bella! See you later," Alice said. I waved and she closed the door behind her. I sat down on the comfy sofa we had bought yesterday at the mall. Our room was different now- we had gotten new bed sheets, chairs, a couple of sofa's and other things to make our dorm room feel more like home. I thought back to our shopping trip. Edward, the handsome guy who I had gotten into an argument with was none other than Alice's other brother. When we were sitting in the food court, Edward acted as if nothing had ever happened. He ignored me, but continued to talk to the others like I wasn't there. I know that Alice knew something was going on because she kept looking at us. Thankfully, Edward only stayed till he finished eating. Then we went on with our shopping, buying stuff for our room and the boys' room. The second we were inside our room, however, Alice and Rose started.

_"Bella, you have some explaining to do. Have you met Edward before? He's never so impolite with new people." Alice put her hands on her hips and looked up at me. Rosalie sat down on a chair and looked at me as well. _

_"Um, I kind of ran into him outside the bookstore. Ran into, in the literal sense." They looked confused. "Okay, I had just come out of the bookstore and I didn't know which way to go to get to Forever XXI. I didn't look and just turned blindly toward the right. I bumped into someone and ended up on the ground. It was Edward, talking on his phone. We got into a small argument about whose fault it was and it ended in me walking away. It was actually my fault, but I wasn't about to tell him that. He acted so arrogant." I noticed Alice and Rosalie were staring at me. "What?" _

_"Edward normally doesn't argue with people. He's really polite." _

_"Neither do I. I don't know what happened to me today."_

_"Well maybe you should let it go. He told me who he was talking to. It was Tanya, his girlfriend. Their relationship is a little rocky right now. He had just finished talking to her, well more like arguing, when you bumped into him." That didn't give him an excuse to just snap at whoever he wanted!_

_"Okay. I'm going to leave it this time, but I hope he won't do it again." They nodded and we started rearranging all our new things._

Now Alice and Rosalie had gone to visit Jasper and Emmett, and I was here, thinking about Edward. Tomorrow was the first day of classes. I found out that Alice had taken vocals as her second class, too. At least I wouldn't be alone for that class. It was almost dinner time, so I was getting ready to meet Rose, Alice, Emmett and Jasper at the dining hall. Hopefully Edward would decide he wanted to stay in his dorm again. I had decided to forgive him, but I still didn't want to meet him. I didn't know if he would forgive me.

I walked towards the dining hall and got myself a tray of food. The others hadn't come yet, so I chose a table where they could see me as soon as they came in and sat down.

"Excuse me," I looked up and saw none other than the one and only, Edward. He was holding a tray of food and looking at me. "I promised my siblings and friends that I would join them for dinner. They haven't come yet, but it seems you're waiting for them too." I nodded. "May I join you?" He asked. I remembered what I had decided about giving him another chance.

"Sure," I said. He sat down opposite to me and started to eat. After sitting in silence for a few minutes, I said, "I'm sorry." He looked up, surprised. I took a deep breath and continued. "I'm sorry about what happened yesterday, at the mall. It was rude." He studied me with his green eyes and I forced myself not to stare at him. Then he smiled. He looked breath-taking. He had a crooked grin which lit up his whole face and made him look beautiful. There was no other way to describe him.

"I'm sorry, too. I shouldn't have been so impolite to you. You had caught me at a bad time." I smiled back at him. "Friends?" He asked, offering me his hand. I shook it, agreeing to be friends. Then I looked up and saw Rosalie watching us. She put her tray on the table and sat down.

"It's good you two forgave each other and became friends. It was getting hard on us, having two good friends who hated each other." I rolled my eyes. I had gotten to know Rose well. She was nice, but self centered, too. Alice, Emmett and Jasper had joined us now. "Bella and Edward have come to their senses and have become friends." Rosalie said the second Alice sat down. Alice grinned.

"Really?" She asked me. I nodded yes.

"What happened before?" Emmett asked, totally clueless. I guess no one filled him in on what happened. Jasper rolled his eyes, so I presumed he knew what happened at the mall.

"Long story short, Bella and I had an argument yesterday at the mall." He smiled his crooked smile at me and I felt my heart racing. "So, Bella," he said, beginning a conversation. "What are you here for?"

"My first choice is violin and second is vocals. I heard you're here for piano?"

"Piano is my first choice, and my second is also vocals."

"Hey!" Alice jumped in. "We'll all be in the same vocals class!" She grinned at me.

"Who is 'we'?" I asked. Alice had food in her mouth so she pointed at herself, me and Edward. She swallowed.

"The three of us." I nodded.

"Where are you from, Bella?" Edward asked, looking at me intently.

"Phoenix, Arizona" No need to ask him where he was from. I struggled to think of something interesting to say. I was surprised; a boy had never affected me like this before. Could it be that I have a crush on him? No, he has a girlfriend, I reminded myself. He's just being friendly with his sister's friend.

"But she was born in Forks. And her dad is Chief Swan!" Alice put in for me. I stood up to put my tray away.

"I'm finished," I said, and started walking away with my tray.

"Bella!" I heard Edward calling me. He caught up and I saw that he too was carrying an empty tray. We walked over to put away our trays. Then he turned to me. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow," He said. He smiled at me and walked out of the dining hall through another door. I stood; watching him till he was out of sight. Then I turned around and walked back to the table where Alice and Rosalie were waiting for me. Alice was observing me, and I think she guessed that something was up.

"Where are the guys?" I asked, in as normal a tone as possible. She and Rose exchanged a glance.

"They went to put our away our trays, but I guess you were too busy staring at Edward to notice," Rosalie said, giggling.

"What?" I wasn't staring, was I? Was it obvious that I was starting to like him?

"You were staring at him. You like him." Alice stated. I bit down on my lip, avoiding her gaze. Rose sighed.

"Just admit it, Bella. You like him. And don't worry; we're not going to hate you for it. You are way better that Tanya. I just hope Edward realizes that." Okay, so I like him. Why were they making such a big fuss over that?

Before I could ask, Emmett and Jasper came back to the table. "Bella, didn't you notice us? We walked right past you, but you were too busy staring at _something_." Emmett said in a suspicious tone. The way Emmett emphasized something made me sure he knew exactly _who_ I was staring at. Jasper elbowed him in the ribs.

"Its okay, Jasper. We made Bella admit it to us. She likes Edward." Alice was bouncing in her seat. Emmett grinned.

"I wonder if Edward knows," He said in a thoughtful way, tapping his finger to his chin.

"Don't you dare," Rosalie hissed. "Bella will tell him when she wants to, if he doesn't notice it before that."

"Is it that obvious?" I asked them. Would Edward find out that I liked him just because I couldn't control the way I acted around him?

"Yes." They all said in unison. I groaned and covered my face with my hands.

"Don't worry, Bella." Alice reassured me, patting my arm. "Edward is a little ignorant when it comes to things like this. Even if you do appear flustered around him, and he notices, he won't think it's because of him."

We got up to leave. The boys walked us back to our dorm, but I was too lost in thought to pay attention to what they were saying. I focused on making my way up to the dorm, rather than thinking about Edward. I couldn't get him out of my mind.

I snuggled under the covers, thinking about anything but Edward. Tomorrow was the first day of classes. In the morning we had two classes, our first choice and our second choice. In the afternoon was our practice time. We were having a concert at the end of the summer, and we were given time to practice for it. Basically it meant we could do whatever we wanted, but it was the only given time we would get for practice. That's how Alice had explained it. She had been here last year too, so she knew how everything worked. My mind drifted back to Edward and I slowly fell asleep.

I was awoken by the mattress moving up and down. When I opened my eyes, I saw Alice jumping on my bed, grinning.

"Alice?" I croaked out, my voice sounding different because I had just woken up. "Why are you jumping on my bed? And why do you wake me up so early every morning?" It was 7:00!

"You're bed is the most bouncy. I tested mine and Rose's, too, but yours won! Isn't that cool?" She was beaming at me.

"Sure. Cool." I buried my head under my pillow, hoping to get more sleep. Alice dragged me out of bed and pushed me towards the bathroom.

"Didn't you like my way of waking you up Bella? If you didn't, no need to worry, I've got plenty more planned for the rest of the summer!"

I grumbled incoherently as I washed my face, brushed my teeth and had a shower. When I came out wrapped in my bathrobe, I was still in a bad mood. Alice handed me white Capri's and a midnight blue full-sleeve blouse to match with it. Once I had changed, she quickly applied the usual makeup: lip gloss, light eye shadow, eyeliner and mascara. I slipped on a pair of blue flats, telling Alice that I didn't want to wear heels and fall flat on my face on my first day.

"That's pointless," She said, as we were leaving the room. Rosalie had already gone, saying she wanted some extra time with Emmett before classes. "You'll probably end up tripping over your own feet anyway." I sighed. She was right. I was a major klutz, no matter what shoes I wore.

We stopped at the dining hall, eating our breakfast quickly, as we realized it was already 8:50. Classes begun at 9:00 and I didn't want to be late on my first day. We jogged over to the building were the classes were held and Alice told me how to get to my violin class. She told me she would meet me outside my class so we could go to vocals together. I waved after her and went inside the classroom. There were only 3 people inside the class, 2 girls and 1 boy. A bunch of violins were lined up against the wall. I sat down near one of the girls. She was short, but had frizzy hair that made up for her lack of height.

"Hi. I'm Jessica Stanley." She said, holding out her hand. I shook it.

"Bella Swan. Where are you from, Jessica?"

"Forks, Washington. And you?" Wow, it seemed like a lot of people here were from Forks.

"I'm from Phoenix, Arizona. My dad lives in Forks, though. And I was born there."

"Oh! Are you Chief Swan's daughter?"

"Yes." She smiled at me, then turned back to the other girl and continued talking. She acted nice enough, but there was something about her which seemed a little unfriendly. She was asking questions but it didn't seem like she was truly interested in the answer. From what I had seen of her, I would term her as a gossip.

The teacher entered the room. She was tall, with long black hair tied into an elegant bun.

"Good morning, everyone. It seems we have a small class this summer. I am Ms. McNicholl. You can start by telling me your names and where you came from. You first." She pointed at the boy. I looked at him closely for the first time. He had greasy black hair and acne problems. He looked like the chess club type.

"I'm Eric Yorkie. I flew in from New Jersey." The teacher nodded at him and gestured for the next person to go. The girl whom Jessica had been talking to stood up. She was wearing cool designer clothes.

"I'm Alana Single. I came from San Francisco." She sat down. No wonder Jessica had been talking to her. She seemed like the rich, popular kind of girl. She sat inspecting her nails.

Next to me Jessica said, "I'm Jessica Stanley, and I'm from Forks, Washington."

"I'm Isabella Swan, from Phoenix, Arizona." I said, in a small voice. I had been hoping that the teachers wouldn't make us introduce ourselves. For the rest of the class, we focused on theory, the teacher going over all the basics. Once the bell rang, I walked outside the classroom to wait for Alice. I felt a tap on my shoulder and looked round to see Eric standing behind me, smiling.

"Hi, I'm Eric Yorkie. Just thought I'd introduce myself personally." I tried to smile back. He was overeager.

"I'm Isabella Swan, but I like to be called Bella."

"Can I walk you to your class? What do you have? My second choice was the baritone." Definitely too eager.

"Um, I'm sorry but I'm waiting for my friend. Oh, there she is. See you tomorrow, Eric." I left him standing there as I desperately made my way through the crowd to Alice.

"Made some new friends, have we?" She asked, smirking.

"Ugh. Please, do not remind me of him already." I shuddered. It was a good thing he wasn't in my vocals class.

"Come on, Bella. We're going to be late if we don't get going." Alice grabbed my wrist and started pushing her way through the people all going to their classes. We headed towards the vocals classroom, the class I had with Edward.

**So, I know you all are reading the story, but I don't know if you like it or not unless you review!! That being said, just take 10 seconds of your time and tell me whether you like the story or not. **


	4. Author's Note

I'm so sorry I haven't posted a chapter… School is starting for me and I have to get ready. I've started writing the 4th chapter, and I promise I'll post it by the end of this week.

If you've read the first 3 chapters, review and tell me how the story is coming along so far.


	5. Chapter 4

**Wow, over 1500 hits!! Thanks to everyone who reviewed!!**

I walked inside the classroom, my heart pounding erratically inside my chest. My eyes swept the classroom but I couldn't find any trace of the bronze hair I wanted to see. Alice pulled me to the second row of seats. She sat down next to a tall girl with brown hair and I sat next to her.

"Hi," Alice said, talking to the girl with brown hair.

"Hey," She replied shyly.

"I'm Alice Cullen, from Forks, Washington. What about you?"

"I'm Angela Weber, from Portland."

Alice pointed at me. "This is my friend, and roommate, Bella Swan. She's from Phoenix." I gave Angela a small wave, too preoccupied with my search for Edward to engage anyone in a real conversation.

"Don't mind her," I heard Alice say, giggling. "She's looking for someone." I glared at her. Just then I saw him enter the room, wearing dark jeans and a white shirt. He looked gorgeous, as usual. He saw us and gracefully walked over, his mouth turning up into his perfect crooked grin. I could swear I heard small intakes of breaths around the class.

"Hi Alice, Hi Bella," He sat down next to me. I could hear my heart thumping unevenly in my chest and wondered if he could hear it too. I smiled back at him, and then looked down to my notebook. I began to randomly doodle on the book.

"So, Bella," Edward said, making small talk. "How was your first class here?"

"It was good, I guess. Not exactly what I expected. The class was small." Actually, my violin class was nothing like what I had expected. I had thought that the teachers would be stricter, and that there would be more people. "How was your first class?"

"Oh, it was okay. The teacher already knew me, so I had an advantage." He said in an offhand tone. The teacher had entered the class and I turned my attention towards him.

"Hello, everyone," He seemed like a cheerful guy. "I am Mr. Evens. For today's class we'll start with everyone coming up here and introducing themselves. You also have to sing a song. It can be one of your choice, however." I froze in my seat. I hated being the center of attention, and my voice wasn't very good. "Let's start over there." He pointed to Angela. I turned to Alice, my eyes wide. She just laughed at me.

"This isn't the time to laugh, Alice. You're next! And then it's my turn. You have no idea how horribly I sing." She shook her head.

"Bella, you have an incredible voice. I heard you in the shower." I closed my eyes and rested my head on my hands. I heard Angela speaking.

"I'm Angela Weber, and I'm from Portland. I'm going to sing one of my favorite songs, Fly by Hilary Duff." She started singing.

_In a moment, everything can change_

_Feel the wind on your shoulders_

_For a moment, all the world can wait_

_Let go of your yesterday_

She had a nice voice, but it was quiet. She, like I, was very shy. I sat up and opened my eyes. Edward was watching me with amused eyes.

"What?" I asked self-consciously. He shook his head, his eyes still amused.

"Nothing." I stared at him suspiciously till I realized that Angela had finished singing and it was Alice's turn to sing.

"Good luck!" I whispered. She smiled at me and bounced over to the front of the room.

"Hi everyone, I'm Alice Cullen, from Forks, Washington. I'm going to sing Girlfriend." I groaned. Alice had been playing it continuously yesterday in our room. Edward looked at me sympathetically.

"I understand," He said. "Alice wouldn't stop playing it on the car ride here." We were interrupted by Alice singing.

_Hey! Hey! You! You!_

_I don't like your girlfriend_

_No way! No way! _

_I think you need a new one_

_Hey! Hey! You! You!_

_I think you need a new one_

I stopped listening. This song was _so _Alice. She was getting into the mood of the song- bouncing on her heels and bopping her head. I looked towards Edward, exasperated, only to find him staring at me. I blushed and let my hair fall like a curtain in between us. Alice finished her song and walked back to us, the rest of the class applauding her. I grinned at her.

"Alice, you were awesome!" She grinned back at me. Then her eyes widened.

"Bella! It's your turn. Go!" She pushed me up. I concentrated on trying not to trip and fall flat on my face in front of the whole class. Once I had faced them, I took in a shaky breath. I looked down.

"My name is Bella Swan, and I came from Phoenix, Arizona." I took a deep breath in an effort to calm myself and began singing one of my favorite songs, Breakaway by Kelly Clarkson.

_Grew up in a small town_

_And when the rain would fall down_

_I'd just stare out my window_

_Dreaming of what could be_

_And if I'd end up happy_

_I would pray_

I sang the whole song, staring at the ground. When I finished singing, I looked up to see everyone staring at me with incredulous expressions. People started clapping. Alice was beaming at me. I looked at Edward's face. He was staring at me with the same kind if incredulous face as everyone else. Then the teacher spoke.

"Very good, Bella." I smiled at him and went back to my seat. Angela and Alice smiled at me, Alice giving me thumbs up. I blushed and sat down next to Edward. I felt his warm breath on the back of my neck as I tried unsuccessfully not to think about him.

"You sing wonderfully," He said quietly, before getting up and walking to the front of the classroom. Once he stood there, again, I heard small intakes of breath. I was pretty sure it was the girls in the class. Alice caught my gaze and rolled her eyes.

"Hello. My name is Edward Cullen, and I'm from Forks, Washington." He looked down for a brief second, as if composing himself before starting to sing and the started.

_I walk a lonely road_

_The only one that I have ever known_

_Don't know where it goes_

_But its home to me and I walk alone_

_I walk this empty street_

_On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams_

_Where the city sleeps_

_And I'm the only one and I walk alone_

I recognized the song as Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day, having heard it on the radio often. I stared at his face, mesmerized, as he looked straight ahead. He seemed to be deep in thought about something, the song coming naturally. And then he finished, and there was an outbreak of applause from the whole class. He, like his sister, had an amazing voice. If they had taken this as they're second choice, I could only imagine how good they would be at the guitar and piano. Edward came back and sat down next to me.

"And you said I sing well," I teased, still unable to accept that. "You should hear yourself!" I grinned at him. He gave me a small, half-hearted smile back.

"Hey, I'm not that great," He said. He turned away from me and sat, staring into space. He still seemed to have something on his mind. I decided to leave him alone for now, and ask him later. Soon a blonde haired, blue eyed, baby faced boy stood in front of the class.

"I'm Mike Newton," he announced. "From Calgary." He added. The he broke out into an off key imitation of Skillet, singing the song Comatose.

_Comatose… _

_I'll never wake up without an overdose_

_Of you_

He started at a low pitch, and somehow ended up sounding like a little girl shrieking at the end of the line, where the pitch is actually supposed to rise gradually. I clamped my hands over my mouth, trying hard not to let even a giggle escape. I looked to the side and saw Alice in a similar position, except she was having much more difficulty at it than I was. I heard a low chuckle next to me and saw Edward watching Mike with amusement clearly written across his face. When he saw my hands clamped over my mouth, his chuckle turned into a quiet laugh. Mike ran back to his seat, embarrassed. The rest of the class passed by in a blur, most of the people being either average, or a little above average. Not close enough to Edward and Alice, though. Edward sunk back into his thoughts when Mike finished his little performance and stayed like that for the rest of the class. When the bell rang, I got up and followed Edward and Alice to the door silently after saying bye to Angela. When we walked out of the class, I was ambushed by Mike Newton.

"Bella!" He called out, striding towards me. Alice and Edward stopped to watch. Edward's eyes seemed to grow darker. "There you are!" He said.

"_Excuse_ me?" What was he doing?

"I'm sorry, we haven't been introduced properly," He sounded like Eric. I wonder if they knew each other…

"Anyway, I'm Mike Newton, from Calgary. And you're Bella Swan, from Phoenix." I had no idea how to react to him now. Alice was smirking; she probably remembered the situation with Eric after violin class. Edward's eyes were growing darker by the minute. His eyes were balled into fists, and he was glaring at the back of Mike's head. What was wrong with him?

"Can I talk to you alone?" Mike asked, in a low voice. Before I could answer, he pulled me a few steps away, out of hearing distance from Alice and Edward.

"What's up?" I asked, a little bit annoyed.

"Um, well," He starting stumbling over his words while I just looked at him.

"I was wonder if… you would like to sit with me at lunch. And maybe my friends." Out of the corner of my eye I was Alice and Edward arguing. Edward glared at her and stormed away. I turned my attention back to Mike. He was looking at me hopefully.

"Um I'm sorry Mike, but I have other plans. Gotta go." I walked away. He seemed sweet but intent on going out with me. Once I reached Alice we started walking back to the dorms. I could see her staring straight ahead with immense concentration. I sighed, and she looked over at me.

"What's wrong with Edward, Alice?" I cut straight to the point. She looked down and twirled a strand of her hair around her finger.

"Nothing," Her expression was _too _innocent for me to believe that. I glared at her, and ignored her for the rest of the walk back. When we reached the room, we dumped our bags on the floor and went to the dining hall to meet everyone else. Alice was still unusually quiet.

I was standing alone in the line, choosing between pizza and a sandwich, when I heard Edward's musical voice behind me.

"This color blue looks lovely on you," He murmured. I spun around and found him smiling at me. He seemed to be pretty content now, unlike his deep, pensive mood earlier. I blushed and looked at my tray. Picking the pizza slice, I walked with Edward to the table where Alice, Rose, Emmett and Jasper were already eating. I sat down and picked at the food in front of me. I looked ahead and saw Edward staring at me, a small smile playing on his lips.

"Guess what happened to Bella today!" Alice leaned forward, her eyes excited. The Cullen's sure seemed prone to mood swings. She glanced at me once before telling the others.

"Two guys looked interested in her!" She squealed. Rose squealed too, and Jasper and Emmett simply looked amused.

"One was after her violin class, what was his name, Bella?" She looked at me.

"Eric," I mumbled, watching Edward. His happy mood was gone. He looked angry, and he was glaring at the table.

"Oh yeah, Eric. And then, after vocals, this guy Mike, asked her out!"

"He did not!" I protested. "He just asked if I would like to accompany him and his friends to lunch." All of them smirked at me.

Edward stood up abruptly, picking up his tray and shoving his chair back. He avoided our bewildered stares and walked away from the table, and out of the dining hall. I looked back to the remaining Cullen's and the Hales.

"Guys," I said, in a quiet voice. They looked away. "What's wrong with Edward?"

**Review!!**


	6. Chapter 5

**I'm so sorry I didnt update for so long!! Since I have school, the updates will be even slower than normal... I'm not stopping the story, the updates will just be slower. Also, I've never been to Starbucks before so I dont know if it has a waiter-service or if you just have to order at the counter. Thanks for all the reviews!!**

No one looked at me. I studied each one of their faces, looking for some hint as to what was wrong with Edward. After ignoring me for a few minutes, Jasper let out a small sigh.

"I'm sorry, Bella, but now isn't the right time." I glared at him. Rosalie looked at me.

"We will tell you, Bella. Just not right now. Later." I was getting a little angry. I thought that right now was a perfectly good time.

"And what's wrong with now?" I asked, voicing my thoughts. "I think I have a right to know, seeing as it's _me _he's distant with."

"Bella, we can't tell you now. We or Edward himself will let you know when the time comes." I thought about it. As long as Edward and I continued to be on good terms, I guess there was no problem with it. He would tell me when he wanted to.

"Fine," I stood up. "I'm going back to our room now. I'll leave it open for you."

I walked back to my dorm alone, my mind still occupied by thoughts of Edward and what was wrong with him. Was something wrong between him and Tanya? Didn't Alice say they're relationship was rocky? Had they got over it yet? But even then, why would he take out his frustration on me? I didn't come up with any answers, so I decided that I would leave it, like I had told Rose, for now at least. I took my violin, and looked through the papers the Institute had given me. I was assigned to practice room number 112. But first, I had to find a song to play. I was looking through my binder of all the pieces I had ever played when Rose and Alice burst into the room.

"Oh, come one, Bella. You are not going to practice on the first day here, and that's an order." Alice came to stand in front of me with her hand on her hips, looking up at me.

"Oh, really," I teased. "And if I decide I want to practice?" I asked, taunting her.

She shrugged and sat down comfortably on her bed. "That just means an extra few hours of shopping," she said, waggling her eyebrows. I groaned.

"Fine," I huffed, and crossed my arms. "So what are we doing? I'll do anything other then shopping."

"Well…" Rosalie trailed off. "We could explore the campus. We've both been here last year, so we know it, but you should know your way around."

"Yeah!" Alice leaped up and put on her sneakers. Rose and I followed suit, and we locked the door and went outside. We walked towards the dining hall, chatting about random things.

"Okay, well this is the dining hall, as you know. And that's the main building, obviously… Oh, look, there's the field! The guys are there!" Alice started sprinting towards them, while Rose and I walked. Emmett, Jasper and Edward were playing with a Frisbee. Nearby, I saw Mike, Eric, and some other guys lounging around. Oh no, I thought. We reached the guys and I settled on the grass to watch them play. It suddenly struck me how beautiful all the Cullen's and Hales were; I didn't belong in their group.

"Hey, Bella," Mike sat down next to me. I scooted to the side, trying to put some distance between us. He moved closer.

"Hi Mike. What's up?"

"Oh, nothing much. How come you're not practicing?"

"I could ask you the same. My roomie Alice wouldn't let me practice, claiming it's the first day and all."

"Wait, Alice is the small, cute one, right?" He continued without giving me time to answer. "That's what my roommate said, too. They would probably get along well. Oh, I have an idea! Why don't we double-date? Alice and Tyler, me and you!" He looked at me hopefully, the second time in the same day.

I sighed. "Alice already has a boyfriend, Mike. And I don't date." That wasn't a lie. No one had ever asked me on a date before, so I had never been on one.

"Oh, that's too bad." Mike frowned. "Maybe some other time, though." He walked away. I groaned. Alice, Rose and the guys walked over to me.

"So, Bella, have any special plans for tonight?" Emmett waggled his eyebrows at me suggestively. Everyone else laughed, except for Edward, who still had that unfathomable look in his eyes. His face was stiff, but his dark green eyes were piercing. I looked away.

"No way!" I told Emmett, trying to keep my tone normal. "Oh, but you should know, Alice, Mike asked if you wanted to double with his roommate Tyler." Jasper growled, but Alice just rolled her eyes.

"As if I would go out with him," She said, smiling up at Jasper. He gave her a peck on her lips.

"Oh, I have an idea!" Emmett said, his eyes widening. "Alice, you should walk past Mike and his group with Jasper and make them jealous."

"Yeah! Great idea, Emmett!" Alice started tugging on Jasper's hand.

"I don't know, Alice…" He trailed off.

"Oh, come on Jazz! Don't be such a spoil sport!" Alice gave Jasper her trademark pout, but he just looked away.

"Okay, let's see the majority. Raise your hands if you think we shouldn't do it." Jasper looked at everyone standing around him and then at me on the ground. My hand, along with Edward's and Jasper's hands, was raised. Alice looked at me with raised eyebrows.

"What? I think it's kind of mean." I wasn't the kind of person to play a prank or hurt someone.

"And you, Edward?" She looked up at him now.

"You'd just be wasting your time on him. He's not worth it." Alice exhaled loudly.

"Fine," She huffed, stomping her foot. "Fine, we won't do it _this_ time. But let's do _something _at least! I'm bored."

"Why am I not surprised?" Rose said under her breath as she sat down next to me.

"No, Rose, don't sit! We're going to do something, remember?" She started jumping up and down. "Let's go to Starbucks."

Everyone agreed, so we went past the Bass Dorm, to Starbucks. When we settled down on the comfy sofas, a waiter came to take our order. He was totally into Rosalie, flirting with her even when Emmett gave him a deathly glare. After he left, however, we were all laughing at him. We kept doing this, acting angry whenever he came to our table, which he did more than what was required, and then making fun of him behind his back.

Edward didn't speak to me directly at all during the time we were in Starbucks, but I noticed the guarded glances he kept sending my way. Alice and Rose noticed it too, but thankfully they didn't say anything.

"I think we should go now," Rose said, standing up. We all got up, too, and Emmett put some money on the table. I noticed our waiter looking towards Rosalie, in hope that maybe she would spare him a glance, but he was disappointed when she walked out of the door without looking back.

We walked in silence through the campus, back to our dorms. Alice and Rose said they were going to stay outside with the boys for a while, so I said bye to everyone, not meeting Edward's eyes. I walked slowly upstairs too my room. I reached my dorm and went to the bathroom to take a shower. I let the warm water unclench the knots on my back and tried to wash away my worries.

Once out of the shower and dressed in my most comfortable sweats and old t-shirts, I lay down in bed. I was tired, today being the first day of classes. Since it was only the first day today, they had probably gone easy on us, and I was sure tomorrow would be harder, more advanced, like this Institute had a reputation for. I drifted off into an uneasy sleep…

The Cullen's and the Hale's visited me in my dreams, Edward with the same distant look. As much as I reached out, I was never able to get to him, and for some reason, that troubled me. Probably it was because no one had ever acted like that towards me before, most people were usually friendly. The other Cullen's and the Hale's were there too, shaking their heads and giving non- committal answers whenever I turned to them with a question about Edward. I reached out again for him…..

"Bella!" My eyes opened and I saw Alice shaking me. Rosalie was sitting on the edge of my bed. I looked around. It was morning. "Did you know you talk in your sleep?"

"No!" I gasped. Of course I knew I talked in my sleep. How many times had Renee told me about it? "I mean yes, I know, but what did you hear?" My eyes were frantic.

Rose and Alice exchanged a sly look.

"Well…" Rose said. "You were talking some incoherent things that sounded vaguely like you were hitting Mike and Eric with a violin." Her face was filled with confusion. I looked down. Exasperated with them both, especially Mike, I had had vivid dreams about them last night. Although I was a non-violent person, the same could not be said for my dream.

Alice grinned at me. "And you said something else…" She trailed off, smirking at me and exchanging another sly look with Rose.

Rose continued for Alice. "You were muttering Edward's name…" My eyes widened as they laughed at me.

"No, no, no!" This could not be happening! I averted my gaze, feeling grateful when my cell phone rang. It was Charlie, my dad.

"Hey, dad. What's up?"

"Hi, Bella. I just wanted to make a quick call before heading over to the station. An old friend of yours in L.A., and I told him you both could meet up." Charlie's gruff voice sounded a little hurried, like he was running late.

"Um, well I guess I could. Who is he?" I didn't remember having any old friends that Charlie would know about. All my friends were in Phoenix.

"His name is Jacob, Jacob Black. Do you remember him?"

**Review!! I'll update faster if you review, I promise!!**


	7. Chapter 6

**Sorry I didn't update for so long!! School is really hectic these days, but my exams just finished so I can update sooner. Anyway, I'll be starting a new story soon, so look out for that!**

"Um, sorry, _who_?" Who was Jacob Black? Rose and Alice looked at me with bewildered expressions. I just shrugged my shoulders in response.

"Jacob Black, Billy Black's son. You used to play with him and his sisters while Billy and I went fishing." I was getting vague flashbacks… A beautiful beach, somewhere near Forks.

"Vaguely, Dad."

"Anyway, he's in L.A. so I told him you would meet him. I don't have much time now to refresh your memory, but once you see him I'm sure you'll remember him. I gave him your number, so he'll be calling you soon. Bye, Bella, take care."

"Bye, Dad." I hung up.

"What was that about?" Rose asked from the bed.

"Apparently, some old friend of mine is in L.A. Dad wants me to meet him."

"Do you want to meet him?"

"I don't know. I don't remember him." That was the truth. I didn't remember Jacob, or Billy Black, or his daughters. "Dad said that he would call me."

"Oh." Alice thought for a moment, and then suddenly brightened up. "We have to get ready for classes! Bella, shower." I sighed and trudged to the bathroom to get ready for my second day here. Hopefully the classes would be more advanced, seeing as yesterday we didn't do much except cover the basics.

I stood under the shower, enjoying the feeling of the mildly warm water on my body. When I was finished, I wrapped a towel around myself and stepped out of the bathroom. Alice rushed past me inside.

"Your clothes are on your bed." Alice had laid out a black polo top and white skirt on the bed. I slipped them on. Rosalie was not in the room; maybe she had already gone for classes or to the boy's room. I sat down on the bed and waited for Alice. She came out a few minutes later, already dressed and ready.

"Here, let me do your makeup." She started to put eyeliner on me, and I opened my mouth to protest but she cut me off. "There's no use complaining," she said matter-of-factly. "I'll get the makeup on you somehow. Anyway, we're running late, and Rose was ready so she went down to Starbucks to get something for us."

"Oh. Okay." That was nice of Rosalie. Just as I was thinking that, Rose walked in with a Starbucks bag in one hand. Alice made us eat quickly, pointing frantically at the clock whenever we stopped to take a breath. We ran to the main building, hoping we would be on time. When I walked into my violin class, I was happy to see I had made it before the teacher came. I took my seat next to Jessica, ignoring Eric's waves to sit next to him.

"Hey Jess," I smiled at her and she smiled back.

"I heard your friends with the Cullen's and Hale's." She commented, trying to keep the accusation out of her voice. She was what I thought, a gossip.

"Yeah, Alice Cullen and Rosalie Hale are my roommates. Who are you rooming with?" I wanted to steer the conversation away from myself, and towards her. It seemed like she was the kind of person who would talk, even if no one was interested in what she was saying.

"Oh, I have Angela Weber and Lauren Mallory. They're nice." She said, and then giggled quietly. "Did you know that Lauren has a crush on Edward Cullen? You know him, right?" I nodded, and then turned my head. I couldn't understand that strange feeling I got when Jessica mentioned Lauren's crush. I felt anger, desire and possessiveness all at the same time. For the rest of the class I ignored Jessica and concentrated on the sonata's we were playing. They were all easy- stuff I had learned before. After the bell rang signalling the end of class, I quickly put my books in my bag and walked away before either Jessica or Eric could talk to me. I reached the vocals class and walked inside and over to where Alice was waiting for me.

"Hey, Bella," She grinned at me.

"Hey Alice. How was your class?"

"Oh, it was good. Easy, actually."

"Same here."

"So do you like it, so far?" Alice asked.

"Oh, um, yeah, it's nice."

"Well it's good to hear that you like the place," a velvety, melodic voice said from behind me. I didn't have to turn to know who it was. I felt my cheeks grow warm, and saw Alice smiling at me.

"Hi, Edward!" I knew it would be impolite not to look at him, so I took a deep breath and turned around slowly to face him. He was looking down at me from where he stood in front of my desk with a puzzled expression on his face. I just smiled at him, and then turned back to Alice and glared at her. She smiled at me with an innocent expression. I heard Edward sitting down next to me but didn't look towards him. I couldn't concentrate on anything during the next hour. I was aware of Edward sitting next to me, and I couldn't think of anything else other than him. When the bell finally rang, I saw Edward stand up fluidly and walk swiftly out of the class. I stared after him, watching him disappear into the throng of students. I heard Alice talking top-speed about something behind me but I didn't know what it was about. I walked back to our room not paying attention to Alice. I don't know when she realized I wasn't listening anymore, but at some point I noticed the silence. I looked to see what had happened to her, only to see her studying me apprehensively.

"Bella," she said, in a soft, kind tone. "What's wrong?" I sighed. How would I explain this to her?

"It's about Edward. I don't understand him at all- his mood swings, his unexpected aversion to me, when I don't think I even did anything wrong except for what happened at the mall. But we forgave each other for that, anyway." I didn't want to add the last reason, which was that maybe whatever was wrong between Edward and Tanya was being taken out on me. But I didn't believe that. Even though I've only known him for a short time, I didn't believe that he was the kind of person to be rude to one person because of someone else.

"Oh, Bella," She sighed, too. "I'm really sorry you have to go through this. But I promise, I'll explain all of this to you soon- if Edward doesn't do it himself." That was what she told me at the canteen, that she would explain soon, but when was _soon_? I remembered my promise to myself and tried to keep Edward out of my thoughts. We walked up to the dorm, both of us quiet, and found Rosalie waiting for us in our room.

"Hey guys," she greeted. I gave her a half-hearted smile and sank down on my bed with my eyes closed.

"Bella! The boys are meeting us at Subway in 10 minutes, so get ready quickly." Rosalie said. That caught my attention.

"_All_ the boys?" I croaked out. She looked at me with a weird expression on her face.

"Of course, Bella. Why wouldn't all of them come?" Alice stepped out of the bathroom just that moment to save me the embarrassment of explaining to Rosalie. I went into the bathroom to wash my face and shut the door to block out Alice's voice. I didn't want to have to hear her telling Rose. I splashed the cold water onto my face and then combed my hair. I pressed my ear to the door to make sure Alice had finished talking about it, and when I heard her discussing the pros and cons of wearing high heels, I went out.

"Okay, I'm ready," I said, then sat down to wait for Alice. She chose flat shoes, in the end, claiming that there might be a long line to get our sandwiches and that she wouldn't want to stand for so long in high heels.

We piled into Rose's car, Rose driving; I in the passenger seat and Alice sprawled out in the back seat. I switched the radio on, and the song Who Knew by Pink blared out of the speakers. We started singing along.

_If someone said three years from now,_

_You'd be long gone_

_I'd stand up and out_

_Coz they're all wrong_

_I knew better_

_Coz you said forever_

_And ever_

_Who knew _

All of us were singing along at the top of our lungs, Alice mimicking a guitar player in a rock band in the back seat. We stopped at a red light, still singing. Rosalie was shaking her head to the music. A red Mustang pulled up next to us, driven by a few guys that looked our age. The one in the driver seat looked at Rose and whistled loudly. Rose sent him a death glare which he just shook off with a laugh. The light changed to green and Rosalie sped away before the boy even noticed that the light had changed. Alice and I were laughing hysterically seeing Rose's angry face, and after a couple of minutes of trying to stay angry, she too burst out laughing. I had to remind her that she was driving, and the she sobered up.

Rose pulled into a parking space next to a silver, shiny Volvo. We walked into Subway, the boys already waiting for us. Jasper and Alice went to get our orders, while Rose, Emmett, Edward and I stayed at the table. Emmett was hyper. He kept fidgeting with his napkin, with the straw of his coke, anything he could find, till finally, he threw the napkin onto the table.

"I'm sick of this silence! Let's do something. Let's play something." He stared around at the three of us, trying to imitate Alice's pout. It only worked on Rose who leaned across the table and kissed him. I wrinkled my nose and saw Edward reacting in a similar way.

"I agree!" Alice slammed the tray down and sat next to Rose at the edge of the bench like seat. "Let's play something." Emmett instantly dug into his food, but nodded enthusiastically.

"I have an idea!" Rose said, leaning forward, resting her arms on the table. "Each person has to tell us one embarrassing real life incident- something that happened to them. Starting with Bella!" She turned to me, grinning. I swallowed audibly.

"Can't someone else start?" I looked at each of them desperately.

"Nope," Jasper leaned back, his eyebrows raised at me. "You have to start Bella... it's a little rule in our group. Once one person nominates someone to do something, they have to do it, even if someone else wants to go first." I groaned.

"Fine. But let me think. There are too many of them… I have to choose one." I thought back to all the embarrassing things that have happened to my, and found myself with only a medium sized list. While I was thinking of sharing a certain story with them, one that happened to me when I was 14, my cell phone rang. The ring tone was She Will Be Loved by Maroon 5, one of my favourite bands, the tone I kept for unknown callers. I pulled the phone out of my pocket and flipped it open.

"Hello?"

"Isabella Swan?" A deep voice asked from the other end. I frowned, trying to recognise the voice. I drew up a blank.

"Yes, may I know who's calling?" I shrugged at the others who were looking at me questioningly.

"This is Jacob Black." I felt my face change to one of understanding, and the others looked even more clueless. I got up and squeezed my way past Rose and Alice.

"Hi, Jacob." I walked outside the crowded Subway and into the parking lot where it was comparatively quieter.

"Hey. I was wondering, even though you may not remember me that much, do you want to meet later today?" I was a little interested in meeting him, so I decided I would agree.

"Sure. When do you want to meet?"

"How about 5? At the mall near your music institute?"

"Sounds good! See you then."

"Bye."

I slipped the phone back into my pocket and walked inside. Rose and Alice scooted inside when they saw me coming and I sat down on the edge.

"Who was that?" Rose asked.

"Oh, it was Jacob."

"Ah," was all they said, understanding immediately. Jasper, Emmett and Edward still looked confused, though I though I noticed Edward's eyes narrowing infinitesimally.

"Jacob is an old friend from Forks," I explained. "Hey, do you guys know him? He lives in La Push." All of them shook their heads, and I looked down, a little disappointed. I wanted to know a little about Jacob before I went to meet him.

"Well, Bella, we're finished eating so we'll just have to postpone our little game for later." Jasper said, his eyes twinkling. I glared at him. We walked out to the car in silence, and I muttered a quick goodbye to everyone before sliding into the backseat to wait for Alice and Rose to finish saying bye to their boyfriends.

The ride back to the dorm was quiet. I didn't bother going up to the room, I walked over to the main building and found the computer lab. I wanted to look for some pieces to practice for the summer ending concert. I went to my favourite search engine and typed in 'violin pieces.' Lots of results turned up, but I chose the most promising looking one. After looking through quite a few, I found one that looked a little challenging, yet interesting to play. It was Prelude No. 2 in C minor by Bach. I printed out the sheets of music, and then walked down the long hallways to my practice room. It was small, but enough for a violin player. There were 5 chairs and 2 music stands arranged haphazardly. I sat down on one of the chairs and arranged the stand in front of me and set my music on it. Although I wasn't going to play, since I had forgotten my violin, I wanted to sit like I would be had I been playing and read the music. I hummed the notes as I read through them, imagining the sounds of a violin playing. Once I started playing, singing or listening to music, I would get lost in it. I hummed through the entire piece, and when I finally noticed my surrounding, I checked the time and realised it was already 4:30. I jumped up and ran outside the room, slamming the door shut behind me. People gave me weird looks as I ran through the hallways, outside, then to the dorm.

"There you are!" Alice shrieked, the second I ran through the door. "I thought you were going straight to the mall, and believe me you would not want to go looking like that." I looked at the mirror. My face was red from the running and had sweat dripping down the sides. I went into the bathroom and washed my face. When I came outside, Alice was standing near the chair with her makeup bag in one hand. She pointed to the chair without a word.

Thankfully, she only put a little bit of eyeliner and lip gloss, so I was free to leave in a few minutes. I went downstairs to the car park and got into my '53 Chevy. The engine roared to life with a deafening sound, but no one was in the parking lot to hear it.

I drove slowly to the mall, humming my violin piece the whole way, but with less enthusiasm. I didn't want to zone out now and make scrap metal out of another car. That was the good thing about my car- it was the kind you would see at an accident site with minor damage, but with metal of the other car it destroyed around it.

I parked my truck in the underground parking and made my way up to the food court. It wasn't very crowded, being a weekday. When I reached the food court, I scanned the entire area, not sure who to look for. Then I caught sight of a copper skinned black haired boy waving at me frantically, and recognised him as Jacob.

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	8. Chapter 7

**Hey, sorry for the late update!! Anyway, this chapter is short... I didn't know what to write. I have plans for the next chapter, though!!**

I set my coke on the table and sat down across from Jacob. He grinned at me; and I couldn't help but smile back. After talking to him for just a few minutes, there was no way I couldn't not like him. I took the cap off my bottle and spun it around between my fingers.

"So…" He trailed off. "You're into music?"

I nodded "The violin. What did you come to L.A for?"

"Track meet. I'm the school's fastest runner." That wasn't hard to believe. Jake was tall, athletic.

"Wow! That's cool" I didn't have the ability to walk without finding something to trip over, let alone actually run.

"I know" He grinned. Jacob was such a happy person all the time, and I was really happy I had met him. "Let's go somewhere." He suggested, standing up.

"Where?" I asked, looking up. He was so tall, especially with him standing and me sitting. It made me feel small, insignificant.

"Hmm… Let's go around the mall, I guess. I have to take something back home for the people on the rez from L.A. And this is probably the only time I'm going to step into the mall. That's why I asked you to meet me here. So that I could combine my shopping trip with meeting you."

I grimaced. "I'm not really a big fan of shopping…" I trailed off.

"Oh. Well, neither am I. And you don't have to shop. You just have to walk around to the stores with me, and watch me make the tough decisions on what everyone will like. Isn't that easy?"

I smiled up at him. "Sure, then. Let's go."

We walked around the mall, pointing out things and laughing. It was just so natural to be around Jake. He told me a bit about himself. His elder sisters Rachel and Rebecca weren't in Forks anymore. Rachel was at university in Washington State, and Rebecca was married to a surfer in Hawaii. Jake picked out stuff for his friends, little souvenirs for the people on the reservation, and more valuable things for his friends and dad. I helped him pick out earrings and necklaces for his sisters. Then, holding the multiple bags, we went to sit in Baskin Robbins. I ordered strawberry, and Jake got chocolate.

"Do you like L.A. so far? Or at least the Institute, and the campus?" He asked, once we had gotten our ice cream.

"Yeah. I met some nice people." And someone who didn't seem to like me at all. "My closest friends here are from Forks. They know dad, but not you."

"Really?" He asked, raising his eyebrows. "Who are they?"

"Rosalie and Jasper Hale and Alice, Emmett and Edward Cullen." I listed, watching his face for a reaction. He rolled his eyes.

"Oh, I know them. The famous doctor and lawyers kids. So they're here, huh?"

"Yeah. Alice and Rose are my roomies."

"That's nice."

"Hmm." I pondered on his sarcastic tone, making a mental note to ask him about it later.

"So, you free this Saturday?" I looked up suddenly, surprised.

"What?" He looked back at me innocently.

"I asked if you're free this Saturday." He repeated, looking me in the eye. "I thought maybe we could go out."

I flushed. No matter how many times this happened I just couldn't help getting embarrassed each time. "Just as friends, right?"

"I guess… If that's what you want." He raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. Just friends." I couldn't help think of Edward at that moment, and it bugged me. Why was I so wrapped up with him? "Do you want to make it a group, or just us?"

"Let's make it a group. You call your friends, and I'll call mine. Only Quil and Embry will come anyway."

I was about to ask him whether bring the Cullen's and Hale's would be ok when I was momentarily distracted by what he said. "Quil and Embry? Those are unusual names."

He laughed. "Quil is a hand-me-down, and Embry was named after some celebrity, I think. Anyway, don't get started on their names in front of them. You'll regret it later."

"Oh… That's… nice. Um, would it be ok if I brought the Hale's and Cullen's this Saturday to the movie?" I asked hesitantly. I didn't really have any other good friends here in L.A., so I wanted at least Alice and Rose to come with me.

"Sure." He twirled the ice cream spoon in his hand awkwardly. "Um, maybe we should go now. I have to get back and practice."

Jacob walked me to my truck and watched as I got in and shut the door. I rolled down the window. "Call me on Saturday, ok?"

He nodded and I waved to him. It was already kind of dark out. I hadn't realized so much time had passed with Jacob. I was glad that I would be seeing him again on Saturday, with his friends. If they were anything like him, I knew I would take a liking to them. On the way back to the campus, I decided to ask Rose and Alice how they knew Jacob, and why he was so uncomfortable when they were mentioned.

When I walked into my room, I found all the lights off, and Edward, Alice, Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie in front of the TV watching re-runs of Friends. Alice was curled up in Jasper's arms, but hopped up at once when she saw me.

"Hey, Bella!" She called enthusiastically. Rose, Emmett and Jasper grinned at me, while Edward gave me a small smile. I was shocked.

What had changed in the last few hours to make Edward get over his unexplained aversion to me? Not that I was complaining; this was a change I definitely welcomed. I smiled back at all of them, and settled myself on my bed next to Emmett and Rosalie.

"So, Bella, how was your meeting with…umm… Jason?" Emmett struggled to get the name right, while everyone except Edward laughed. There goes his friendliness, I thought sourly.

"It's Jacob, actually, not Jason. And it was nice. He's nice." I thought fondly, remembering the time spent with him. Edward suddenly jumped up.

"I have to… uhh… call Tanya. See you guys later." He rushed out of the room, and I started as the door closed behind him. I saw Alice and Rose exchange knowing glances with one another and then look at me. I sighed in frustration and lay back onto my bed.

"So… What did you guys do, Bella?" Jasper asked, breaking the awkward silence that had engulfed the room.

"Um, well we just hung out in the food court for a while, then we went to get some stuff for his friends and family back in Forks, and then we had ice cream and left. Oh, Alice, Rose, Jake invited me to a movie with him and his friends on Saturday. Want to come?"

"Sure!" Alice exclaimed. "Let's go early and get some shopping done." I groaned, along with Rose, Emmett and Jasper.

"Sure, Bella," Rosalie agreed, smiling kindly at me.

I smiled back at them, grateful for agreeing to come with me. Everyone turned their attention back to the TV. Edward didn't come back. I tried to focus myself on the re-runs, till finally, I fell into unconsciousness.

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	9. Chapter 8

**Sorry I took so long to update!! I have exams soon, and I've been studying for those. Also, I've had lots of relatives over, I've had music classes, badminton coaching, drums classes and I've been super busy. I have a new set of relatives coming next week so I'm not sure when I'll be able to update next but I'll try to do it soon. Also, for those who are reading my other story, I promise I'll update that one soon too!**

The next few days passed in a blur. I hung out with Alice, Rose, Jasper and Emmett, and became closer to them than I had been to anyone else my age. Edward was as cold as ever. I went to classes in the morning, and practiced in the afternoon. My piece was coming along good, but I still had to practice a few parts and get them right. I still had lots of time before summer ended, and before the concert, but I wanted to get it perfect by the time the concert was held.

My violin classes were really good. My teacher was nice, and she was awesome at the violin. My vocals were good too; I was able to reach all the notes and sing all the songs the teacher taught us, but it was pretty awkward with Edward sitting next to me. He ignored me though, for most of the time, and I tried to do the same. It wasn't so easy though.

When Alice and Rosalie agreed to come with me to the movies on Saturday with Jacob and his friends, I called him and told him. He was ecstatic- and since then we had been speaking on the phone everyday. We were thinking of going to see Grudge 2, the latest horror movie in theatres. Jake and his friends loved horror movies. Alice was terrified of them, and Rose and I didn't mind them. Emmett and Jasper knew about our plans, but Edward still didn't know about them. Alice really wanted to go early and shop, but Rose and I had convinced her that there's plenty of time later to shop. She was a little disappointed, but happy that there would be more time to get everyone ready for the movie.

Saturday came, and we woke up at around 10 am. After just lazing around for a while, we ordered pizza for lunch and watched TV while Rose gave us pedicures and manicures. Then we took turns in the shower and put on the clothes Alice had selected for us. I was wearing denim capri's and a pink top. Rose had a short white skirt and a baby blue top on, and Alice was wearing jeans and a yellow sequined tank top. After that Rose did my make up, while Alice did her own. Rose had already put on some makeup. I didn't understand why they were making such a big fuss just to go to the movies. When I asked them, Alice said, "Well, Bella, we have to look good no matter where we are going. And, we're meeting guys!"

"But you guys already have boyfriends," I pointed out.

"That doesn't mean we can't look good," she said, innocently. I just rolled my eyes.

We went down to the parking lot and piled into Rosalie's car. It took us less than half an hour this time, to get to the mall. Once we were there, I called Jacob to see where he was. He was still on his way, so I told him we would wait in the food court for him and his friends. We didn't order anything, wanting to save space for the snacks and drinks later. We just sat in silence until I saw Jacob, flanked by two boys. Both had the same russet colored skin, but the one on Jake's right was shorter, and wider. The boy on Jake's left was tall, almost as tall as Jacob, and skinny. I assumed they were Quil and Embry. I raised my hand waved them over, and Quil and Embry broke into identical grins. I heard Rose hiss under her breath as they approached closer, and I looked at her with confusion. Alice looked amused. When they were a few feet away, Quil and Embry stopped abruptly.

"You invited Rosalie and Alice?" He asked, incredulously. Jake shrugged.

Rose walked around the table and stood face to face with the boy who spoke, the shorter, wide one. "One more word, mutt, and I'll call Emmett here, right now." The boy flinched, clearly intimidated by Rose.

"Hey," Jake said, stepping in between Rose and the boy. I got up too, and walked to where they were standing. Alice joined us.

"I think we should take this to a more private place- people are starting to stare." I waved my hand to indicate the people passing by and the people sitting at the tables who were openly staring at the scene in front of them. Rosalie glared at Jake and his friends, and then turned on her heel and walked towards a less crowded place of the mall. We followed. When we reached there, I said, "Okay, someone please tell me what's going on!"

Alice and Jake sighed at the same time, and then Jacob started to speak. "One day Quil and Embry were at the beach, and Rosalie and Alice were there, too. Embry dared Quil to flirt with both of them. He did it, but Jasper and Emmett were nearby and saw him."

Alice cut in. "Jasper and Emmett, being overprotective, beat him up. That was totally unjustified, of course."

Rose rolled her eyes and muttered "Wasn't" under her breath.

Alice continued as if she didn't hear her. "Embry came to back up Quil and he was beaten up, too. So, if you had mentioned to Jasper and Emmett that Quil and Embry were coming too, they would have come along too, or insisted on us not coming."

"And that's why we don't like the Cullen's and Hale's in general. They have a violent nature." Jake added.

"I think all of them were at fault. Embry and Quil, and Emmett and Jasper." I said. Rose rolled her eyes again.

"We haven't been properly introduced," said the tall, thinner boy. "I'm Embry Call, and this is Quil Ateara." He held out his hand. I shook hands with him, and then with Quil.

"The movie's going to start soon," Alice pointed out. "Let's go." We walked over to the theatre and bought our tickets. I got popcorn to share with Alice, Rose got a chocolate bar, and Jake, Quil and Embry got nachos.

We settled down during the opening credits. I was sitting in between Alice and Jake. Rose was on the other side of Alice, and Embry was next to Jake, and Quil was next to him.

The movie was really scary. I was clutching Alice's arm on one side, and Jake's on the other side. Jake was rubbing my arm soothingly, which was a little disconcerting, but it comforted me, so I let him do it.

After the movie was over, we walked out of the theatre. Me, Rose and Alice were still freaked out from the movie. The guys were laughing at us as we headed to Subway to grab a quick dinner before going home. It was surprising how quick I had come to call our dorm as home. But it was just like a home- everything was so comfortable and I had the world's best friends. It was perfect. I didn't want summer to end. But if only Edward was just as friendly as the rest of them… Stop it, I told myself. I refused to let myself spoil the night by thinking about him.

All of us got 6-inch sandwiches, since we were still pretty full from our snacks. We sat at the table. "So, Rose, Quil, you guys are going to forgive each other, okay?" Jake said, munching on his sandwich.

"Eww, Jake, don't talk while you eat!" Alice wrinkled her nose in disgust. Jacob grinned sheepishly at her.

"Okay, guys?" Embry asked. Quil thought for a split second, and then nodded his head slowly. Rose stared coldly at him.

"I'll think about it." She said, finally. Embry, Jake, and Alice groaned. "Fine, fine. I won't hold a grudge against you. But don't think we're friends, mutt."

"Aww, now she even has a special little name for him. How cute." Jake teased in a baby voice. All of us laughed, except for Rose and Quil. Rose looked like she was trying very hard to ignore Jacob.

All in all, we had a fun night, I thought was headed towards the parking lot. We said bye to the guys, and climbed into the car, exhausted.

"It was fun, tonight." Alice said, propping her feet up on the dashboard. I stretched across the back seat.

"It was," I agreed. Rose didn't say anything, so we both looked at her.

"Well… It was fun, actually, to tell the truth. I expected them to be some boring guys, and I was just going with you to give some company." Alice and I grinned in the dark. I was really happy that my best friends were friends with Jacob.

We parked the car outside the dorm and walked up to our room. I changed into my pajamas quickly, and snuggled up under the covers. I closed my eyes, and was asleep in a second.

I opened my eyes slowly and squinted against the bright light. I got up slowly, and took in Alice and Rose still sprawled across their beds, asleep. It was noon, I noticed. I staggered out of bed and to the bathroom and splashed water on my face to wake myself up properly. Then I brushed my teeth, and decided to have a quick shower. Wrapping a robe around myself, I opened the bathroom door. Alice was out of bed and waiting for me, and Rose was just beginning to stir. I changed quickly and then waited for them to finish getting ready. After that we walked over to the boy's dorm. We were planning on having lunch there.

Jasper opened the door, and we went inside. Emmett had ordered pizza, and he was waiting for us to start.

"Finally!" He said, and started digging in. Edward was there, too. He gave me a small smile, which I returned tentatively. We ate the pizza, telling the guys about last night and how scary the movie was.

When we had finished eating, and were lazing around on the sofa, Edward's phone rang, breaking the comfortable silence.

"Tanya," he muttered, before stepping out into the hallway to talk in private. Alice sighed, Rose and Jasper had identical grimaces on their faces, and Emmett rolled his eyes.

Finally, Edward came back. He closed the door softly behind him, and sensing something was wrong, I looked up at him. So did the others.

Edward had an unfathomable look in his eyes. Looking slowly at each of our faces, he said, "Tanya just called. She's coming this Thursday to visit."

**I didn't find The Grudge 2 scary at all, but my sis and friends did, so let's just say that Bella, Alice and Rosalie did too.**

**Review, please!!**


	10. Chapter 9

**I'm really sorry I didn't update sooner!! But anyway, I really like this chapter, and I hope you will too!**

I stared blankly at the computer screen and let my mind wander. Today was Tuesday. Tanya would be coming on Thursday. Even though Alice, Rose, Emmett and Jasper had assured me endlessly that everything would be fine, and that Tanya would like me, I still wasn't convinced. And I knew that even if Tanya was the most perfect, kindest girl on earth, I wouldn't be able to like her. Not as long as I had feelings for Edward.

Edward didn't seem very excited about Tanya coming. In fact, he seemed gloomier than usual ever since her phone call. Alice, Rosalie and Emmett were openly dreading Thursday, and even though he tried to be the good guy and not show it, I knew Jasper was too.

I quickly logged off when I realized that there was a line of people waiting to use the computers. I picked up my bag and went back to the dorm. Rosalie was there, watching TV. She turned it off when I came in and collapsed onto my bed. We sat in silence for a few minutes until there was a knock at the door.

"Come in," Rosalie called, not wanting to get up. The door opened. I raised my head a little bit to see that it was just Emmett, Jasper and Edward with Styrofoam boxes of Chinese take-out. I looked at the time and realized it was already 1:00, and I was starving.

We started to eat, Edward and I not saying anything, and Rosalie, Emmett and Jasper arguing over little things like what movie to watch tonight for our movie night. I didn't feel like having one, but everyone insisted, Alice later persuading me by saying that tonight would be perfect for our weekly movie night since Tanya wouldn't be here.

The door opened and Alice stalked in, clearly angry. She slammed the door behind her and sat down on her bed with a box of food and chopsticks. "It's so annoying!" she exclaimed. "I had found the perfect song for me and Emmett to do, and when I went and asked the teacher, she told me someone else was already doing it!"

Alice and Emmett were performing together, Emmett on the drums and Alice with the guitar, and as the singer.

"Don't worry," Rose said. "You'll find something else. I already found my piece."

"Ooh, what is it?" Alice asked, excited.

"You'll see," Rose said, smirking. Alice glared at her. All this talk about what we would be performing for the summer-end concert reminded me that I still had to get my piece approved by my teacher and practice it. Later, I thought.

Suddenly it was Thursday afternoon, and Rosalie, Alice, Jasper, Emmett and I were waiting in the guy's room for Edward to come back from the airport with Tanya. I was pacing back and forth when I heard the door open and a stained laugh from Edward. I looked at the door. With Edward was a gorgeous strawberry blonde girl. Not as pretty as Rose or Alice, but definitely prettier than me. No wonder Edward was with her. He deserved someone who looked like she belonged with him, not someone plain like me.

"Rosalie! Alice!" She cried in a high pitched voice, and then laughed. It was a fake laugh, and that was obvious. Alice grimaced briefly before allowing herself to be hugged by Tanya. The second she let go of her, Alice came to stand beside me. Rose joined us too. I saw Tanya's eyes narrow infinitesimally, but she ignored me and moved on to hug Jasper and Emmett. The she finally looked at me.

"And who's this?" She asked, in that fake, high pitched tone, turning to Edward. Edward was about to say something, but Alice answered instead.

"This is our new best friend, and roommate, Bella." She and Rose linked their arms through mine. Tanya looked even angrier when she saw and heard this, but disguised it quickly.

"Nice to meet you Bella," she said in a sickly sweet way.

Tanya went to stand beside Edward and intertwined her hand with his. I felt jealousy spread through me. Edward looked uncomfortable, which made me feel a little better. He didn't actually seem to like her that much. I wondered why they were even together. Sure, she was pretty, but that's about all she had. Her personality, so far, didn't even make up for her looks.

There was an awkward silence for a minute.

"Umm, I'm going to go back to the room. See you guys later." She gave Jasper a peck on the cheek, shot a meaningful glance at Rose and I, then went outside.

"Me too… I have some work to do." She left, too. Not wanting to be left there with Edward and Tanya without Rosalie and Alice for help, I quickly made up some excuse and left too. I went back to our room and sat down on the couch with a loud sigh. Alice looked at me sympathetically, as if to say, I told you so. I remembered Alice telling me once about how she didn't like Tanya.

Rose, however, just grinned and gave Alice a high-five. "Alice, that was awesome back there! She was so jealous!" Alice grinned back. I raised my eyebrows. Seeing my confusion, Alice explained, "Tanya has always been jealous of how close the five of us are. She has always wanted to be part of our group, and even being Edward's girlfriend, she hasn't been able to do that. She's known us for two years. Today, when I mentioned that you're our best friend, she was really jealous. That's why I said all that in the room today, and linked arms with you."

I was a little hurt. She said that just to make Tanya jealous? Seeing my expression, Alice quickly added, "Not that that was only to make her jealous. I meant every word I said back there. You are a part of our group now."

I nodded, and said thank you. Alice hopped up from her bed and came and gave me a hug. Rose joined and it became a group hug. We spent the rest of the night watching chick flicks and laughing hysterically at random things.

I was walking back from the main building when I heard someone calling my name. I was Edward. He was jogging towards me. "Wait up!" He called. He finally reached me.

"Hi, Edward," I said, tentatively. Up until today, Edward had been sitting at the back of the class during vocals. Today, he sat beside me again.

"Hey Bella," He smiled at me. Okay, this was kind of weird. I was so used to the cold, unfriendly Edward, that his friendly attitude was kind of bizarre. "Mind if I walk back to your room with you? I need to get something from Alice."

"Sure. So, what's up? Are you excited that Tanya's here?" I asked, not really thinking about what I was saying. His face instantly became guarded, and his eyes tightened.

"Yes," he said, not looking at me. He was lying. I regretted asking him that. Now he'll go back to being unfriendly. Then I heard two impatient honks behind us. We turned to see Tanya behind the wheel of a rental car. She rolled down the window.

"Want a ride, Edward?"

"Um, actually, Tanya, I was going to Alice's, not to my room."

"Oh, that's fine. I could do with some catching up with Alice and Rosalie." Edward shrugged and then turned to me.

"Want to come, Bella?" I saw Tanya's eyes narrow with anger when she saw Edward asking me.

"Sure," I said. I didn't particularly want to ride with Tanya and Edward, but I didn't really feel like walking either. Edward opened the door for me, and after I had got in he closed it. He walked over to the passenger side and got in. Tanya drove to our dorm. It was really uncomfortable in the car, so I was glad when we reached my dorm. I made my way up to our room, with Edward and Tanya trailing behind me. I opened the door and went inside leaving it open for Edward and Tanya.

"Hey Alice, I was wondering if…" I heard Edward asking Alice something. I sat down next to Rose on the sofa and watched as Tanya pulled up a chair and sat near us. Rosalie made a face when Tanya wasn't looking. I laughed quietly.

I sort of tuned out what was happening around me. All I knew was that Rose was not happy to be having to speak to Tanya. I dozed off and was awakened by Alice. Edward and Tanya were just about to leave. I said bye to them, and then opened Wuthering Heights, which I was planning on reading.

"Bella," Tanya said. "Can I speak to you for a minute? Outside?" I shot a bewildered glance at Alice and Rose, but they were just as confused as I was. I followed her into the hallway and closed the door behind her. As soon as the door was shut, she gave up her good-girl act.

"Listen, Bella. I know I'm not going to be here after Sunday, but I'm going to make it clear: Edward is mine. I can tell that you like him, which he is obviously not noticing, but just stay away, okay? He is my boyfriend, so don't try to steal him away. No one steals Tanya Denali's boyfriends."

I stared at her shocked. She thought I was trying to steal Edward? "Look, Tanya, I don't know how you got that idea, but I'm not trying to steal Edward from you." It was a different matter altogether whether I liked him or not…

"Whatever. Just stay away from Edward." She turned on her heel and walked away. I went into my room, dazed.

"What happened?" Alice asked, the second I was through the door.

"Tanya thinks I'm trying to steal Edward from her." I explained. "She warned me to stay away from him."

Rose gaped at me. "Are you serious?"

I nodded.

"Oh. My. God. I can't believe she actually did that!" Alice exclaimed. "Well, no it is believable, actually, but…" She trailed off. "Let's tell Edward."

"No!" I said. "He's not going to believe us anyway. And plus what's he going to do, even if he does believe us? I don't think he'll break up with Tanya so easily." Rose nodded, supporting me.

"Okay… I guess." Alice said, uncertain.

"Bella, I have something I want to say to you. I really, really like you." Edward smiled his breath taking crooked grin at me. Then he looked straight into my eyes. "Will you be my girlfriend?"

I shot up, covering my ears with my hands. "Crap, Alice, don't ever do that again!" Alice had put an alarm near me ear, interrupting the most wonderful dream ever. She smiled at me. I groaned. "Today's Saturday, Alice!"

"Good to see you're up." I heard someone say from the doorway. I would recognize that voice anywhere. "I needed to talk to you." Edward said.

Alice froze where she was and we exchanged a hesitant glance. Rosalie looked up from her laptop.

"What did you say to Tanya yesterday?" He asked, looking down at me with his arms crossed and a frown in his face.

"Me?" If I remembered correctly, it was Tanya who was doing most of the talking yesterday.

"Yes, you." He glared at me. "Let me refresh your memory. Tanya came crying to me yesterday, saying that you had spoken to her privately after I left yesterday. She said that you apparently accused her of coming in between our relationship, and that you wanted her to get out of my life, or something along those lines. I wasn't aware we had a relationship." He raised one eyebrow.

"What! I didn't say anything like that! It was Tanya who was doing the talking; she told me to stay away from you, and she accused me of trying to steal you from her." It looked like I was trying to explain all this to him in vain. He remained unmoved, but it looked like his eyebrow was going to disappear under his messy bronze hair at the rate at which he was inching it up.

"Tanya," he called, and in walked Tanya with a smirk on her face. Rosalie's expression instantly turned to one of anger. "Tanya, tell them what happened yesterday."

Tanya stood beside Edward and faked a look of amazement and hurt. "You don't remember what you said to me yesterday? That you told me to get out of Edward's life, and out of your way."

Before I could react, Alice launched herself past me and on Tanya. Tanya was too shocked to do anything, but Edward pulled Alice off her. "Liar!" She was screaming. She looked at Edward and said, "Edward, how can you believe her, she's lying!"

"I think that it is Bella who is lying, and not Tanya, Alice. Tanya wouldn't do that."

"You're wrong, Edward. Tanya _would_ do that. _Bella_ wouldn't." Rosalie said, this time. Tanya glared at her, and Rosalie crossed her arms over her chest defiantly.

"Fine, stick with the liar, then." Edward said. I couldn't resist it; I stuck my tongue out at him. It was childish, I know, but I had to. Edward just huffed and walked out the door with Tanya following him.

The second they were out the door, I lay back down again. Rosalie and Alice sat beside me, comforting me with just my silence. I could feel the tears in my eyes. My tear ducts were wired to my anger. Whenever I got angry about something, I cried to let out all the emotion. It was actually quite helpful.

There was a knock on the door. I bit down on my lip, hoping it was not Edward or Tanya again. But this time Emmett and Jasper came in. They looked down at us. I imagined what we must look like: dejected; me with tears in my eyes.

"We were out in the hallway and heard everything that happened." Emmett explained. He sat down on the bed with us and I could feel the mattress go down.

"Don't listen to them." Jasper said. "Edward's being a jerk right now."

I just sighed and turned around so that my face was buried in my pillow.

I woke up sometime around mid-day, and saw that Alice, Rose, Emmett and Jasper were still here. When Alice saw that I was up, she ran to me and gave me a hug and asked if I was okay. I assured her that I was fine.

I ate a doughnut that Rose had bought for lunch and stared at the TV, not really taking in the football game that Emmett was watching. At around 3:00, the door opened and Edward walked in, not bothering to knock or anything.

"Are you crazy, Edward? How can you just walk in like that after what you did this morning?" Rosalie cried out from the sofa. But Edward looked so sad and torn that I felt all my anger seep away. Alice noticed this too.

"What's wrong, Edward? Are you okay?" She was frantic.

"I'm fine, Alice. Physically, at least." He replied.

"Then what happened?"

"This morning, after I, er, spoke to you guys, I went to play basketball for a while. Then I went up to Mike and Tyler's room, because theirs was the closest and also because I didn't have the guts to face Jasper and Emmett after what I did this morning. When I went up to their room, I saw Tanya in their, making out with Mike. We broke up and hour ago and she's on her way back to Forks now." There was silence in the room for about 3 seconds before Alice attacked Edward with what was probably meant to be a comforting hug. She almost knocked him down though. She gave Rose thumbs up behind Edward's back. After a round of comforting hugs from everyone, not including me, Edward came to where I stood, frozen. He looked into my eyes, and I felt myself getting lost in his emerald green eyes.

"Bella, during our fight, Tanya told me the truth about what happened yesterday." He looked down and took a deep breath. "I'm really sorry. Can you accept my apology so that we can start over?"

**Ooh, what is she going to say?? Finally, Tanya's out of the picture! Anyway, review! Tell me how it was!**


	11. Chapter 10

"Umm…" I said, fidgeting. I looked everywhere but at him. Because then I wouldn't be able to lie as convincingly. Because the truth was, I was hurt. I wasn't sure whether or not I would be able to trust Edward the same way I did before. He had insulted me, called me a liar and had even gone against his own sister to protect his lying, cheating ex-girlfriend. I decided though, to tell the truth. "Well, actually, Edward, I'm not sure. I don't know if I can trust you again..."

His eyes were pained. "I'm really sorry, Bella. I shouldn't have done that. It was extremely wrong of me. But can we try? Please? Can we start over again?" He whispered.

I saw Alice nodding at me and Rose just shrugged as if to say: do whatever you think is right. I sighed, and then answered Edward, "We can start over, sure. But let's take it a little tentatively, okay?"

He nodded, relieved, then stuck out his hand and said, "Friends?"

I smiled and shook his hand. "Friends."

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"Bella, watch out!" Alice called from the bench. I looked up to see the basketball almost land on my head. I had bent down to tie my laces. We were at the basketball court, and Edward, Emmett and Jasper were trying to teach me how to play basketball. It was useless. I had already fallen down about five times, taking Alice with me twice and Rose with me once. When I finally, accidentally threw the basketball and it hit Alice, she decided that she wasn't going to play anymore and that she would sit on the bench "to protect herself."

It was probably a good decision, seeing as I am a klutz and when given a ball could cause major destruction. I hadn't made the basket even once, even though we had been playing for 1 and half hours.

When the ball flew through the air, not even reaching the net, I stomped my foot and said, "That's it! I can't do this anymore! Basketball is so frustrating!"

Emmett laughed at me while Edward just chuckled. Jasper, on the other hand, was looking at something, or rather someone who was coming towards us. It was Mike, followed by Tyler and Eric. Alice got up from the bench and joined us as the six of us faced them.

"Well, well, well," Tyler said, sneering. "Look who we have trying to play basketball."

Eric laughed. "I'm sure we can take them on," he said confidently.

"Save it for someone else. We don't want to waste our time on you." Jasper started to turn.

"Wait, Jasper. Let's show them some real basketball." Emmett would never back down from a challenge.

"Sure." Mike said. "Then, Bella, you can see who the real man is," he winked at me. Eww, I thought. He did not just do that. Edward glared at him, which just caused him to smirk. He probably thought just because Tanya chose him over Edward, he could get anyone he wanted. Well, he was wrong.

"Okay," Jasper said, sensing the arising tension between Mike and Edward. Jasper was good at sensing people's emotions, and calming them. He had been very comforting throughout the whole ordeal with Edward. "Let's get this started."

Rosalie, the best out of us three girls at basketball, agreed to be the ref. She threw the ball up between Edward and Mike and started the three-on-three match. From the very beginning, Emmett, Edward and Jasper were winning. At first Mike and his teammates looked undisturbed, but when fifteen minutes were over and Emmett had just brought their score up to 16 by shooting a slam dunk, leaving Mike and his team 12 points behind at 4, they started to get a little worried. Rose, Alice and I were cheering the guys on; glad someone was putting Eric, Tyler and Mike in their places. They had decided to play for only 30 minutes. Tyler made another basket, taking their points to 6, and then Edward shot a 3-pointer in the last minute to take them to 21. Rose announced Edward, Jasper and Emmett as the winners.

Mike and Eric sulked off to some corner, not looking any of us in the eye, but Tyler stopped to stick his middle finger up at us before joining his friends.

The second they were off the court, we started cheering. I hugged Emmett and Jasper, and then hugged Edward in a very only-friends kind of way. Then I realized something.

"Eww, guys, you're all sweaty!" Emmett laughed, a loud booming noise, at my stupidity for not realizing that they would be all sweaty.

We went to the football field were a few guys were passing the ball back and forth. Emmett and Edward got a couple of hoses from god-knows-where, and then proceeded to spray each other with water. I tried to get out of the way, but Emmett held me while Jasper and Edward sprayed water at me. Then they went after Rose and Alice who had enough sense to quickly try and escape when the hoses first appeared. After a fun hour of getting soaked, all of us went back to our respective dorms and dried ourselves, getting ready to go for dinner. We were just going to the cafeteria tonight, since we had classes tomorrow.

"Hey Bella," Alice said, as we were walking down to the cafeteria. I just got an email from the principal. He sent it to all the students, saying that the auditions for the summer ending concert would be held next week. I'm sure they'll tell us in class tomorrow, but still, since you don't really check your email, just thought I'd let you know."

"Next week! I haven't even been practicing!" Seriously, I had practiced about twice since I chose what to do for the concert. Now I had to cram in some serious practicing.

"And we're allowed to do duets, solo's or group songs. Hey, we should do a group thing together! The six of us!"

"Umm, Alice, sorry to burst your bubble but flute doesn't really mix well with electric guitar," Rose said, shooting Alice's idea down.

"Oh yeah…" she said dejectedly.

We met the guys at the cafeteria. They were waiting for us, with trays full of food. Alice, Rosalie and I went to get our food. When we got back to the table, I noticed that I had forgotten to get a fork. I kept my tray down and went back to the counter, when I heard someone behind me.

"Hey Bella," Mike grinned at me. "Want to join me and my friends?"

I bit my lip and thought of a plausible excuse. "Sorry, Mike, but my friends are waiting."

"That's fine. We'll join you three pretty ladies, then." He said, probably thinking only Alice, Rose and I were here.

"Emmett, Edward and Jasper are here, too."

"Oh, umm, well I'd better be going. See you around." He seemed flustered, hearing that the guys were with us. And he had a reason to be, too. They clearly scared him.

I made my way back to the table and sat down between Emmett and Alice. "Guys," I said, looking at Japer, Emmett and Edward. "Mike is so scared of you!" I laughed. "I met him over there and when I mentioned that you were here with us, he go terrified!"

Alice and Rose laughed with me, but the boys had serious expressions on their faces. "Did he try to do anything to you, Bella?" Jasper asked in a quiet voice.

"No, no. He didn't do anything."

"Good, 'cause if he did anything… I would kill him…" I heard Edward mutter under his breath.

We finished dinner quickly and decided not to do anything. I was tired from my attempts to play basketball, so I went to sleep as soon as I got back to the dorms.

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I walked into my violin class and sat down next to Jessica. We didn't really talk that much anymore, only if we had to ask each other something about the class. When Ms. McNicholl came in, she told us about the auditions. I asked her whether it would be alright if I did the piece I was planning, and she said it would be fine. Satisfied, and ready to practice that afternoon, I walked to my vocals class.

When I got there, the teacher was already there, but he was talking to Edward so he didn't notice when I came in late. I heard Edward asking him about performing two things for the concert; one on the piano and one singing.

I sat down next to Alice and told her what Ms. McNicholl had said. Alice was planning on playing the guitar and singing. She wanted to ask Emmett to play the drums with her.

"I met him before I came here, and he agreed to play with me!" She said, bouncing in her seat excitedly.

"Who said yes?" Edward asked, sitting down next to me and leaning across me and talking to Alice. I leaned back, startled by the sudden close proximity.

"Emmett! He's going to perform with me!" Alice replied, not noticing how Edward was unknowingly torturing me. Alice was really excited for the rest of the class, and the whole walk home. She had been wondering forever if she could find someone to play with her, and when she found out from Rose that Emmett still didn't have anything to perform, had been waiting to ask him.

I went to my practice room in the afternoon and spent a good two hours practicing. I could play the whole piece; I only had a little trouble with one stanza.

We decided to have another movie night tonight. When the guys came over, we put in Mean Girls and switched it on without showing them the cover. When the menu came, Emmett groaned.

"Oh, no! Not a chick flick!" He hit his head against the pillow. "I am not watching this!"

He did end up watching it, and liking it too. When he asked why, he said with a serious face, "The Plastics are hot."

Rosalie smacked the back of his head for saying that while the rest of us erupted into laughter. With Emmett around, the mood was always light-hearted and cheerful. I was going to miss him and the rest of the Cullen's and Hale's when summer was over. Just thinking about it made me said, and Edward, who was sitting next to me, noticed it.

"What's wrong?" He asked in my ear.

I sighed. "I'm just thinking… its going to be so sad at the end of the summer when I have to say bye to all of you." I explained.

He sighed, too. "Don't think about that now. Let's just enjoy whatever time we have together." He whispered in my ear.

I nodded and leaned my head against his shoulder hesitantly. He tensed for a minute; then put his arm around my shoulder. I smiled to myself and enjoyed the rest of the movie with Edward by my side.

**Review!!**


	12. Chapter 11

**Well, I uploaded this chapter pretty quickly... It didn't take me too long to write. I guess this story is just going to be a few more chapters, and then the epilauge. I don't know if I should do a sequel or not... My sis tells me I should, so if you have any ideas, please tell me in a review or PM me. **

**Thanks for all the reviews!! I got so many after the last chapter!! **

_Previously:_

_"What's wrong?" He asked in my ear._

_I sighed. "I'm just thinking… its going to be so sad at the end of the summer when I have to say bye to all of you." I explained._

_He sighed, too. "Don't think about that now. Let's just enjoy whatever time we have together." He whispered in my ear._

_I nodded and leaned my head against his shoulder hesitantly. He tensed for a minute; then put his arm around my shoulder. I smiled to myself and enjoyed the rest of the movie with Edward by my side._

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"Bye, Jake. Take care." I hung up turned back to the others.

"Well?" Alice asked.

"Jacob got first! He's going back to Forks today and called to say bye." I was really excited for Jake. He had gotten first in most of the things which he participated in.

"Cool!" Rose said. Alice agreed with her and gave her a high five.

"So," Emmett said, plopping down next to Rosalie after raiding the little shelf where we put our snacks. "It's Friday night and I am bored. We have nothing planned for the weekend. What are we going to do?"

"Well," Edward said, joining our little group on the floor. "We could go to the beach."

"Ooh, yeah!" Alice said. "We're in L.A. and we haven't even been to the beach yet. Let's go on Sunday, and do something else tomorrow."

"Like what?" I asked.

"Umm…" Alice pondered.

"Yes?" I prompted.

"Alice, I was actually wondering whether I could spend the day with you tomorrow. Alone." Jasper said, also looking around at the rest of us to see whether it would be okay with us if they went by themselves.

"Sure!" Alice said cheerfully.

"Let's spend some time together, too, Rose. We haven't been out together- just the two of us, I mean- in so long." Emmett suggested.

Rose agreed too, so that obviously, left Edward and I alone for the day.

"So, what do you want to do tomorrow then?" Edward asked me, once the others were busy in making plans for themselves.

"We could… watch a movie maybe?" I thought out loud.

"Nah… there's nothing good in the theatres. How about we go to a bookstore?"

"I'm up for it," I agreed. "And maybe we can go look at some music after that."

He nodded. "Good idea. And," he dropped his voice to a whisper. "Alice's birthday is next Friday. If we're sneaky about it, we can plan a party for her. And we should probably get her a present."

With all my worrying about the auditions, I had totally forgotten that Alice's birthday was coming up. "Okay, let's do that." I said.

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The next morning, Alice left with Jasper early in the morning. She was really excited, because Jasper had said it was her early birthday present. She didn't know what he was planning because he wanted it to be a surprise for her.

Rosalie was getting ready when I woke up at 10. Emmett wanted to surprise her, too, so he told her just to dress casually. She acted like she was really annoyed with Emmett for not telling her where they were going, bet I could tell on the inside, that she was happy, and excited.

"What are you doing today?" She asked, once I had showered and changed.

"Well, Edward and I were planning to go to the bookstore."

"Oh…" She raised her eyebrows suggestively.

I laughed. "Oh, c'mon, Rose. It's just a day out between two friends. Besides, I doubt Edward even likes me that way."

I heard her mutter something that sounded like "You'd be surprised," but I wasn't sure I heard her properly.

I dressed in black Capri's and a casual sky blue top. I grabbed my purse and Rose and I left together. We would be meeting Emmett and Edward in the parking lot, form where Emmett and Rose would go in Rose's BMW and Edward and I would take his Volvo.

Emmett was already there, and said that Edward would be down in a minute. I waved them off and waited near Edward's car. He came a minute after they left.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," He said, smiling down at me. I heard my heart pick up its pace and looked away from his eyes quickly.

"It's fine. I've only been here for a minute or so."

He opened the passenger door of the Volvo for me and climbed in, muttering a quick thank-you. He walked around to the driver's side and climbed in, starting the car and reversing out of the parking lot. The ride to the mall wasn't awkward at all, even though I had kind of expected it to be. We talked about everything in general. He told me he wanted to either be a doctor, like his father, when he grew up, or a piano player. I told him about my dreams to become a journalist, since I loved writing.

I found out that he liked modern bands like Linkin Park, My Chemical Romance, Muse and a few others, as well as classical music. He loved the Beatles. We reached the mall quickly, thanks to Edward's quick driving. He parked, and we went to the bookstore, where, incidentally, was the one where I met Edward. When I reminded him about that, he just laughed.

We spent the rest of the morning, and a major part of the afternoon just browsing the shelves and reading some books, curled up on the comfy sofas. The man at the counter was friendly, and didn't mind us hanging out there. When we realized it was 3:30 and we still had to visit the music store and get things for Alice's party, we quickly went to the opposite side of the mall where Planet M and The Party Store were, adjacent to each other.

I didn't buy anything from Planet M, but Edward picked up a couple of CD's. We were done there pretty quickly. From The Party Store, we decided to make the theme of the party vintage, so we got some decorations and costumes for the six of us. We were planning on holding the party in on of the rooms in the main building and inviting a few other people we knew.

Next we went to Claire's to find a present for Alice. Edward let me pick the present, so I chose a cute necklace that said 'Alice', another necklace which said 'shopaholic', and a set of colorful clips for her short hair. Alice wasn't really a shopaholic, but still, shopping was her hobby, so we got it for her.

Edward and I split the money or the present and had the girl at the counter wrap it up. We added a tag to it that said "To, Alice. From, Bella and Edward. "

The ride back to the dorms was quiet. We were listening to one of the new CD's that Edward bought. Edward said that he would take the present back to his room so that Alice wouldn't see it.

When I went upstairs to my dorm, Rosalie was checking her email on her laptop. I asked her how her date with Emmett went.

"It was really fun," she said. "First we went to the mall and played arcade games for a while." I raised my eyebrows. "I know, I know, sounds boring. But it wasn't." She told me. "Then, he took me to this antique car exhibition. It was awesome! Then… well after that we just went to a nearby park and spent some time there and then came back. But, all in all, it was a really great day." She said, ecstatic.

I laughed. "It's good to know you had fun. Edward and I just went to the book store, Planet M, and then went to The Party Store."

"The Party Store? Why?"

"We're planning a party for Alice. The theme is vintage. We bought everyone costumes, so you don't have to worry about that."

"Cool! Oh, yeah, we bought a present for Alice, too. I just remembered. It's with Emmett though. We got her a new sketch pad, and a fashion designing set, since she likes fashion designing so much."

"Wow," I said. "We just got her a couple of necklaces and a set of clips…"

"Don't worry, Bella, she'll like it. She loves jewelry. Oh, Jasper told me about his gift for her, too! He got her a charm bracelet. He wouldn't tell me what all charms he had put on it though. He said I would have to see for myself, on Friday."

"I wonder what he and Alice are doing today."

"Who knows…? But whatever, we'll ask her when she comes back."

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By 7:00, when Alice had not yet returned, Rose and I met Edward and Emmett in the cafeteria for dinner. We ate quickly and then went back to our dorms. At 9:00, when she still had returned, Rose and I just decided to go to sleep and talk to her tomorrow.

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When I woke up the next morning, I was surprised to see Alice still asleep in bed. Rose was already up and watching TV.

"Look's like she was out late," I commented.

"Yeah," Rosalie replied. "I don't know what time she came in, though. I was conked out last night."

I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth and have a shower. When I came out, Alice was awake. She was picking out swim wear for our trip to the beach today.

"Good morning, Alice." I greeted her.

"Thank god your out, Bella. Now Alice can tell us all about the date she had with Jasper yesterday."

"Well...first, he took me to an amusement park. I was really sweet, actually. Then, we had lunch at Subway," she rolled her eyes. "In the afternoon, we went biking, then trekking for a while. And then, we went to a hotel, and he gave me this really pretty white gown and asked me to get cleaned and change into it." She paused. "So, I wore it, and then he drove me to this really nice restaurant where we had a candle light dinner." She squealed, and Rosalie squealed with her.

"Aww, Alice that's so romantic!" Rose exclaimed.

"I know!" She stared dreamily at nothing in particular before she snapped out of it. "Okay, now, back to business. Rose, you can wear this purple bikini, I'll wear this silver one, and Bella, you wear this blue one, 'coz I know my brother loves that color on you."

I eyed the bikini uncertainly. I wasn't really comfortable in one but, I decided I may as well wear it. I went back into the bathroom and wore the bikini underneath shorts and a t-shirt. When Alice and Rose were ready, we texted the guys and told them to meet us at the parking lot in a few minutes.

The beach was a little bit crowded, but we found a secluded spot and lay down a few blankets to lie on. The guys went to swim, but Alice and Rose told me to stay back. Alice wanted me to get a tan. We placed Jasper's little portable radio near us and sang along to the songs that we knew. After a while, we decided to go swim.

We splashed around in the water for a little while and then suddenly, I found myself in the air. I screamed, and saw Emmett holding me up. He was swinging me, and I realized he was planning on throwing me into the water.

"Emmett, put me down right this instant!" I shouted. He just laughed and threw me up in the air, causing me to fall into the water. I went under the water, and decided to give them a little scare. I had really good lung power, and I wanted to get Emmett back. And the others, for not helping me when Emmett had thrown me into the water. I held my breath for as long as I could, and I heard the faint voices of the others calling my name from above the surface. When I started struggling for breath, I raised my head above the surface, and inhaled. Then I laughed and said, "Fooled you guys!"

Alice sighed angrily, while Rose narrowed her eyes at me. Jasper said, "You scared us Bella." Emmett just laughed.

Edward, however, moved closer to me and locked my gaze with his. His eyes were angry, and he whispered fiercely, "Don't ever do that again, Bella. You have no idea how scared I was when you didn't come up for air."

I looked down and muttered, "Sorry."

H sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "It's fine. Forget about it, anyway. Let's go eat something."

We joined the others and went to a little café that was on the beach. We ate sandwiches and drank soda, sitting on the outdoor deck and soaking up the sun.

Alice and Emmett told us a little bit about the piece which they were doing, but didn't want to tell us too much because we would be hearing it tomorrow at the auditions anyway.

We went back to where we had left our blankets and towels and packed them up, deciding to come back here next weekend. We drove back home, showered and met in the guys room, where we watched CSI to pass time.

I wasn't really watching; I was too nervous about the auditions tomorrow. Everyone would be selected, but I wanted to see how they liked the piece I was going to play. All the people who were auditioning would listen to each other playing. I was nervous about that part- I hadn't ever played in front of a big crowd before.

After we ate dinner and went back to our dorm, I went straight to sleep. I couldn't get to sleep very easily, however, but finally, I fell into a fitful slumber, still nervous about tomorrow's audition.

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	13. Chapter 12

**Wow, two chapters in 2 days!! You guys should be thanking me! Lol, jk. I had a lot of free time and finished this chapter, so I uploaded it. **

**Anyway, getting on with the story... Oh yeah, thanks for all the reviews!!!**

_Previously:_

_I wasn't really watching; I was too nervous about the auditions tomorrow. Everyone would be selected, but I wanted to see how they liked the piece I was going to play. All the people who were auditioning would listen to each other playing. I was nervous about that part- I hadn't ever played in front of a big crowd before._

_After we ate dinner and went back to our dorm, I went straight to sleep. I couldn't get to sleep very easily, however, but finally, I fell into a fitful slumber, still nervous about tomorrow's audition._

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When I woke up the next morning I felt butterflies in my stomach. _Relax_, I told myself. _It's not like you've never played in front of people before. _But it had never been this big a crowd before. Trying to assure myself that it would be fine, I showered, and then ate some doughnuts that were left over from what Alice had bought yesterday. Rosalie was already ready, and Alice was having a shower. When she was done, each of us took our instruments and walked together to the auditorium, where the auditions were being held.

When we got there, the teachers and a few students were there. We sat with Emmett, who was waiting for Jasper and Edward to come. "Edward's gone to ask the teacher something about his second piece and Jasper went with him," he explained.

Edward and Jasper joined us shortly after that, just as the auditions were about to start. There were about 150 people in the auditorium. They started first with vocals, and about 15 people sang. Everyone had such beautiful voices, but still, I felt no one could compare with Edward.

Next was flute. Rosalie went on stage and played her piece. It sounded really good, and everyone clapped for her. After the flute was the violin. When my name was called I went on to the stage and arranged my notes in front of me. I started playing, my hands shaking a little bit in the beginning because of my nervousness. But soon I lost myself in the music, gently swaying along with it as I closed my eyes and played. When I played the last note and opened my eyes, every burst into applause. I blushed and went back to my place. I was sitting between Rose and Edward. When I sat down, Edward whispered in my ear, "You were incredible up there."

I shivered at the sound of his velvety voice whispering in my ear. After Eric finished his piece, they called the piano players for their audition. When it was Edward's turn, he got up and walked to the stage without showing any signs of nervousness or apprehension. He sat down on the bench and adjusted himself, pausing for a minute before letting his hands glide over the keys, playing Claire de Lune by Debussy. I felt my mouth fall open with shock. This was the first time I had heard him play, and he was wonderful at it! He was playing one of my favorite songs, and I knew he loved this song too. When he was finished playing and sitting next to me again, I turned to him and said, "If I'm incredible, then you're 10 notches above incredible."

He just chuckled and said, "You underestimate yourself, Bella."

I glared at him and turned my attention back to where Jasper was playing the sax. He was really good at it, just like how Rose was so good at the flute. The Cullen's and Hale's were really talented.

Next they had auditions for duets. Alice and Emmett were the first to audition, and Alice was singing along with playing the guitar. Everyone loved it, they were on their feet cheering for them.

After everyone was finished, Mr. Houston came on stage and announced that he wanted to see a few people about changing their pieces. He read out the names, and then stepped back to let Mr. Sadler take over the mike. Mr. Sadler was in charge of organizing the concert.

"I just wanted to inform you all," he started. "That after the concert, which will be held on the evening of August 14th, there will be a formal dance on the Bass lawns."

Alice let out a squeal. "Rose, Bella, they're going to have a dance! We have to go shopping this weekend to buy clothes for it!" Before I could say anything, she interrupted me. "And don't say 'not this weekend'; because this is the last weekend we'll have to shop."

I suddenly realized that the concert was being held the Friday after Alice's party. After the concert, we would all be going home. "Umm, sure Alice." I answered, concealing my sadness at the thought of leaving.

We went back to the dorms, since we didn't have any classes today. We weren't going to practice today either, since we had just had our auditions.

"Hey…" Alice said. "Why don't we go shopping for dresses today? It's only 12 and we have the whole day ahead of us."

"Sure!" Rose agreed, wanting to find the perfect dress for the dance. I just shrugged.

"And I think we should wear the same dress for both the concert and the dance, 'coz I talked to Mr. Sadler after the auditions and he said that we'd be going directly from the auditorium to the lawns. Of course if we really want to, we can go change and all, which I think I'm going to do, because I don't want to wear a gown while playing the guitar and I don't think Emmett is going to want to wear a tux while he plays the drums-"

"Hang on, did you say a tux?" Emmett asked, looking up from Rose's laptop. He, Jasper and Edward were playing a game before having to go shopping. "I don't want to wear a tux!"

"Emmett," Rose said, rolling her eyes. "Mr. Sadler said it's a formal event. Obviously you have to wear a tux."

Emmett groaned and complained all the way down to the parking lot about wearing a tux. I, personally, didn't see what the huge problem was, but Emmett must have his reasons for being so unhappy about it. When we reached the mall, this one a different one than the one we normally went to, because Alice claimed they had better formal dresses here, I followed Alice and Rose dejectedly inside. Edward walked next to me and said, with understanding, "Don't want to shop?"

"I hate shopping! I'm just putting up with it for Alice."

He laughed. "I know the feeling. But don't worry, I'm here with you. We can escape if you want to." He raised an eyebrow suggestively.

I laughed too. "Thanks, but I don't think Alice would really like it. Anyway, we're just getting dresses, right? How long could it take?" I replied, thinking that it would take about 1 hour, at the most. I should have known that wouldn't be possible, with Alice.

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Two hours later, I was standing in the dressing room while Rose and Alice went to find more dresses. I had tried on lots, but Alice wasn't satisfied with any of them. She had already found hers, but Rose was still searching. The guys already got their tuxes fitted and were waiting outside the dressing room for Rose and I to model more dresses.

"How much longer are you going to be, Bella?" Emmett whined.

"I don't know!" I said, irritated. "Ask your sister."

"Okay, Bella," Alice's excited voice interrupted. "I think I found the right one! Try this on." She threw a dress over the door and I caught it. I put it on and looked at myself in the mirror.

She was right, it did look good. It was blue, floor length and had an intricate neck design. I came out of the dressing room and twirled around for Alice to see it.

"You look so pretty!" Rosalie said, smiling at me.

Alice smiled too. "This is it. You have to get this Bella, you have to!"

After Rosalie picked out her dress, we paid for them and went to find the guys who were in the food court. Then we went back down to the parking lot and drove home. That night we played Clue. Jasper or Rosalie always won, and I didn't even win once.

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The next few days passed in a blur, with classes and practice. I was practicing even harder every day to make sure I played perfectly the night of the concert. Mom or Dad couldn't make it, but Alice's and Rosalie's parents were coming down to watch their children perform. Then they would be flying back while Alice, Emmett, Edward, Jasper and Rose drove back. I would be driving back to Phoenix in my Chevy too.

On Friday afternoon, I left early, telling Alice I wanted to practice more, seeing that there was only a week to the concert. She sighed when I told her and said, "Aww, Bella, can't you stay back today? It's my birthday!"

Edward was meeting me in Alice's practice room where we would be setting up for the party. We played music and were singing along together. I left Edward to hang up all the decoration; I was pretty sure I would fall off the chair if I tried to do it.

"This is going to be so much fun," I commented as I set up the sound system. "I can't wait to see Alice's reaction."

"Yeah," he agreed. We finished setting up and I was about to leave when Edward said, "I had a lot of fun hanging out with you this summer, Bella. I'm going to really miss you."

I turned around and found myself looking right up at him. My heart started beating really fast and my breathing became a little ragged. We both leaned in towards each other and were about to close the distance between us when suddenly the door was thrown open and Emmett walked in.

"Wow, guys. This place looks really good." He said, not noticing how close I and Edward were. We jumped apart and Edward ran his fingers through his hair.

"Yeah, I guess it is good. We worked a lot on it."

I blushed and looked at my feet. "I'm going to go," I told them. "I have to get ready. Remember; call me so that we can bring Alice over."

I walked back to the dorm, my heart still racing and my palms sweating. I regained my composure before I had to face Rose and Alice. When I went inside the room, Rose had already dressed Alice in her vintage costume. When she saw me, she beamed and said, "Look at these cute outfits Rose got us! You have to put yours on too!"

I put up a little bit of a resistance to keep up with the act, but in the end, changed into it. When the three of us were sitting on the beds and just talking, my cell phone rang. I answered it.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Bella, everyone's here. Are you guys ready yet?" Edward asked.

"Oh no, that's awful!" I exclaimed, capturing Alice's and Rose's attention. Rose, of course, knew the whole thing was just a ploy to get Alice to her practice room.

He chuckled on the other end. "You're doing this quite well, actually. Jasper has brought our present for her. Come over soon, okay? We're waiting for you." He hung up.

"Guys, we have to go!" I said, jumping up.

"Where?" Alice asked, bewildered. "Let's at least change out of these dresses."

"No, no, there's no time for that," I said, as we went out of the room and Rosalie locked it. "Someone trashed your practice room, Alice. When Emmett went there, he saw the whole place covered in graffiti! And someone cut your guitar strings too! We have to go there quickly." As I expected, Alice was instantly outraged and forgot all about changing.

She ranted the whole way there about what she would do to the person if she found out who it was. When we were outside her room, she threw the door open and walked into the darkness. Suddenly, the lights were switched on, and everyone yelled "SURPRISE!!"

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	14. Chapter 13

**Wow, over 200 reviews!! Thanks to everyone who reviewed!!! This chapter is kinda short, but I updated it anyway. ****So, here's the next chapter!**

Alice stood there frozen in shock, her eyes wide. Then she squealed and yelled "Thank-you" to everyone before giving a loving hug to Jasper and being crushed into one by Emmett, wrinkling her costume. She smoothed it out and glared at him. Edward mussed her hair and Rosalie grinned at her. She turned to me and said, "Thank you Bella. No one's ever given me a surprise party before."

"Umm, why are you thanking me, Alice?" I asked.

"Well, it was your idea, wasn't it?" She asked in return, looking confused.

I laughed. "No, actually it was Edward's. I just helped." I said, clearing her confusion.

Edward came to stand near me. "Don't listen to her, Alice," he said playfully. "She's downplaying it. She did a lot of work for your party- probably even more than me."

Alice swept us both into a hug and I was crushed against Edward. When she let us go, however, he didn't look like that affected him. Wasn't he interested in me? What had happened earlier then- when we were about to kiss?

"C'mon Bella, don't look so gloomy," Emmett yelled over the music that Jasper had switched on in my ear. "Get ready… We're going to par-tay!" With that he pulled me to the centre of the crowd where Alice was standing and surveying the room. She took everything in- right from the old, faded drapes hung around to the room, to the elegant fake chandelier hanging from the ceiling and the boys in old fashioned tuxes, the girls in flowing, pale colored gowns. She seemed happy, and impressed.

"All right everyone!" Jasper shouted, turning off the music. "Let's have Alice cut her cake and open her presents so that we can get this party started!"

Emmett wheeled in a cart from the corner on which a 2-tier vanilla cake was sitting. It had white frosting and had elegant designs on it. In the middle was written "Happy seventeenth Alice", and there were 17 candles surrounding it. Alice gasped when she saw it and Jasper chuckled. He had chosen that cake for her. After singing happy birthday and her blowing out the candles, pieces of cake were sent around.

Rosalie gave her camera to Angela and she took pictures of us. Then Alice moved on to her presents. Jasper gave her his. "Open this first," he said.

Alice took the small box wrapped in silver paper and opened it carefully. It was a jewelry box. She opened the box and took out a silver charm bracelet with 4 charms already on it. There was a J, a heart, a purse and a guitar on it.

"Aww," she said, when she saw it. I had to admit, even though I didn't like jewelry that much, that it was very pretty. She put it on, kissed Jasper and then posed for a picture with him. Next she opened Rosalie's and Emmett's present, which was the fashion designing set. After that she opened mine and Edward's. "Wow, thanks guys!" she said, putting the necklace that said 'Alice' on. She finished opening the rest of her presents and thanked everyone, and then went and pulled the plug on the system. Everyone looked at her, shocked.

"I don't know about you guys, but this music is not what I want at my party… So, Rose, can you pass me that CD?" she asked, gesturing towards Chris Brown's Exclusive. She switched it on and the music blared out. Everyone immediately went to the dance floor, but I sat down on the side and watched everyone dance. Alice was dancing with Jasper, and Rose with Emmett. I looked around for Edward, but couldn't find him. A couple of minutes later, I felt someone sit down next to me.

"Not up for dancing?" Edward asked.

"Are you kidding? Me, dancing?" I asked, incredulously.

"Of course. I forgot who I was talking to. Bella- the queen of gracefulness." He said, sarcastically. I glared at him, which he just laughed off. "No, I'm serious. Come on, give it a try. I'll help you."

"Um, no thanks." Was he serious? I was not going to step onto the dance floor tonight.

"No, seriously Bella. You should try dancing."

"Please Edward… I really don't want to."

"Fine… if not tonight, you have to dance after the concert."

I sighed. "Will you just leave it, Edward?"

"Bella that is going to be your last night with us."

Oh, so now he was doing emotional blackmail? I tried to make him understand. "Edward, you don't understand. If I dance, everyone within a 10 feet radius will probably end up in the hospital."

"Humor me." He said, staring into my eyes. I sighed. "Besides, it's all in the leading."

"Fine, one dance if you leave me alone now."

"Promise?"

"Promise." I assured him. He got up to leave. "Where are you going?" I asked, bewildered. "Am I really that boring?"

"Hardly. Actually, it's just the opposite. You never fail to surprise me."

"Then?"

"I was under the impression you wanted me to leave." He explained.

"And how did you get that impression?"

"You yourself said, 'if you leave me alone now.' I was merely listening to you."

I rolled my eyes. "I didn't mean it literally, Edward. I meant, leave me alone about the dance."

"Okay, well then sorry. Anyway, what shall we do now? It looks like Alice is going to be dancing for a while."

"Alice, Jasper, Emmett and Rose." I reminded him.

"Yeah, well its Alice's birthday so only if she stays other people are going to stay. Besides, some people have left already."

He was right, I realized. The crowd had thinned by 30%. "I hope she finishes soon. I want to go back to the dorm." I yawned. "I'm sleepy."

He chuckled. "I can see that."

"Do you think she'll see it? Maybe she'll have some pity on me and wind the party up."

"We can leave anytime you want, Bella." He said in a low voice. My heart trilled at the 'we' part of the sentence.

"Nah, let's just wait and see for about another 15 minutes." I replied. By the time 10 minutes were over, only the six of us were left in the room.

"Well I guess people have better things to do on a Friday night," Edward said as he got up, pulling me by the hand behind him. I shot him a confused look. "What do you think; this place is going to clean itself up?" He said.

"Don't be silly, guys. You set the party up, we'll clean it up," Rose said, overhearing Edward's last sentence. "You guys can go back to the dorm if you want, or stay here."

"Yeah," chimed in Alice. "We'll take care of this, and anyway, you look damn tired Bella. Go take some rest."

"But Alice-"

"No! Seriously, Edward, take her back to the dorm. She looks dead on her feet, and I have no idea why. We didn't really do much today."

"Alice," I started to whine, but she glared at me, making me decide it was futile to argue with her.

"Silly Bella," Edward said as we were walking away. "Don't you know it's useless to argue with Alice?"

"Yeah," I sighed. "I just thought it might be worth a try." We stepped outside the main building and started to walk back to Percussion dorms. "Hey, Edward, your dorm is on the other side of the building. You can go, I'll walk back myself."

"No, its fine, I'll walk with you." He said, grabbing my hand lightly. "Are you nervous for the concert?"

"Kind of," I replied, honestly. "But not as much as I was before the auditions. How about you?" I asked, expecting him to say no. He was really good- surely he would have played in front of a lot of people before.

"Yes, I am nervous." He replied, surprising me.

"Oh… Haven't you played in front of people before?"

"Yeah. But that's not why I'm nervous."

"Then?"

"Never mind." He said. We reached Percussion dorms. "Well, good night Bella. Sweet dreams."

"Good night," I said, and went up to my room. I changed into my pajamas and lay down. A few minutes later, I was fast asleep.

**The next chapter will be their weekend at the beach... **

**Review!!! I love getting reviews!!**


	15. Chapter 14

**As you may have noticed, I changed my pen name. Don't ask why... I just wanted to. Thanks for all the reviews!! This is just a filler I guess... Just some more Bella-Edward parts. I've planned it out, and there will be 4 more chapters and then the epilauge. I will do a sequel, and I already have idea for it. If you want a sequel, review and put a Y at the end. If you don't want one, put a N.**

"Here Bella, were this." Alice flung a small mass of some black material towards me. Instinctively I raised my hands to catch it- and missed. It landed on the bed behind me. When I picked it up, it revealed to be a bikini. It was black, with white designs on it. I sighed and went to the bathroom to change into it. I put on a white summer dress over it and pulled my hair into a ponytail.

I waited for Rose and Alice to get ready and then we went down to the parking lot. We were meeting the guys at the beach this time, instead of riding with them. We drove to the beach and met them at the parking lot. We gathered our towels and blankets and went to the same place we sat last time.

"I'm going to swim," Alice announced, once we had dumped our stuff at our spot.

"Me too," Emmett said. Jasper and Rosalie went with them, but Edward and I stayed back. We listened to the radio for a while and then Edward asked, "Want to go for a little walk?"

"Sure," I replied, and stood up. We walked in silence for a while, and then I realized I didn't know that much about him. "What's you full name?" I asked, tilting my head to the side and looking up at him.

He chuckled. "You've known me for almost a month and you're asking me now. It's Edward Anthony Masen Cullen. Yours is Isabella Marie Swan, right?"

"Yeah. How do you know?"

"Alice."

"Ah… How long have you lived in Forks?"

"Since I was 8."

"Where did you live before that?"

"Chicago. I was born there," He replied.

"But Alice said she was born in Ohio, and you're the same age." He smiled a little but his eyes tightened.

"I'm adopted." He explained.

"Oh…"

"Yeah, I normally get that reaction. Alice is adopted too. So is Emmett. My mom can't have children."

"Do you remember your real parents?" I asked quietly.

"Yeah, kind of. It's been a long time though. They died when I was 7, from an epidemic that hit Chicago at that time. I got cured, and Carlisle was my doctor, so he took me in. But I don't miss my parents that much; Esme and Carlisle are like my true parents. They're the most loving people I have ever met." He said fondly. "Tell me about your parents."

"Well my mom left my dad when I was really young. She's going out with Phil now. My dad lives alone in Forks."

"I know." He pointed out, and I laughed. "Silly Bella. Do you like him?" He asked, a second later.

"Who, my dad? Of course I do." I said, confused.

"No, not your dad. Phil."

"Yeah… I don't really know him well though. Why do you ask?"

"Well, some people don't like the person their single parent dates," he explained. "So I was just wondering if it was the same case with you."

"No, he's fine." I replied. We walked in silence for a while. "What do you want to do after school is over?"

"I think I want to go to medical school. Not because of the fact that my dad is a doctor, but I like it. It's interesting. I want to do something to help people, and what better way to do it than saving their lives?"

"Wow, you have your future planned out."

"Yeah, I do. And I think I'll be able to achieve most of it, but I'm not sure of one part."

"And what is that?"

"Sorry, that's a secret." He said with a wink.

We went back to where our towels and blankets lay. Alice and Jasper were sitting there but Emmett and Rose were still in the water. Edward and I joined them.

"Done with your walk?" Rose asked, smirked.

"Yeah…" I said, wading further into the water. She raised an eyebrow but I shook my head signaling that I would answer whatever questions she had later. She nodded back.

"Bella let's go eat" Emmett said. "I've been waiting for you and Edward to come back so that we can go eat lunch before we go home. You took so long!" he complained.

"Sorry Emmett," I apologized, laughing. We called Alice and Jasper and went back to the same café where we ate lunch last weekend. I ate a Caesar salad this time: it was my favorite.

We played volleyball for a while, 3 against 3. I was with Emmett and Edward against Alice, Rose and Jasper, who had a killer spike, thus letting them win. We drove back to our rooms at about 6 and decided to just spend some girl time.

We ordered pizza and Rosalie and Alice gave me a makeover. We dressed in comfy pajamas and turned on the TV. They were showing reruns of Friends so we watched those while eating pizza. We stayed up till 12, watching the last of the reruns and then fell asleep.

I woke up the next morning at around 11 and got ready. Alice, Rose, Edward, Emmett and Jasper were already at the cafeteria waiting for me. I met them there and ate a quick brunch. Rose and Emmett left, and so did Alice and Jasper. Edward and I finished eating and I walked back to my dorm alone. When I got there, I opened the door only to find Emmett and Rosalie in a heavy make out session on the couch. Cheeks flaming, I shut the door and walked away, wondering where to go. I settled on going to the boys' dorm.

When I reached there I knocked on the door. "Come in," Edward's voice called. I entered the room and closed the door behind me. Edward was sprawled across the sofa reading a book. "Oh, hey Bella." He greeted, closing the book and sitting up. "What brings you here?"

"Um, I found Emmett and Rose in my room… I decided to give them some privacy."

"Ah," he said, nodding with understanding. "Sit." He said, patting the space next to him. I sat down.

"What are you reading?" I asked, trying to see the cover of the book.

"Romeo and Juliet," he replied, showing me the cover. It was the unabridged version.

"Wow. I didn't take you the type to read classics." I said, flipping through the book.

"What type did you think I would read?"

I shrugged. "I don't know."

"Have you read it?" He asked, taking the book and putting it on his desk.

"Countless number of times. I love classics, especially Wuthering Heights and Jane Austen books."

"Wuthering Heights?" He asked, raising a perfectly arched eyebrow.

"What?" I asked innocently. "It's a really good book."

"I beg to differ," he said, sighing.

"So…" I said after we had lapsed into silence for a few minutes. "What should we do now? I have no clue where Alice and Jasper are; and I'm not going near my room till someone gives me a signal that it's fine to go in."

He snorted. "You're right. And speaking of Alice and Jasper, where the hell are they?"

"Like I said, no clue."

He sighed. "Okay then… let's listen to music for a while." He turned on some soft soothing music, and we fell into silence again, listening to it. I felt my eyelids drooping and I fought to keep them open. A few minutes later, I was asleep.

"Bella…" Someone was shaking me and calling my name. I groaned and tried to turn over, only to land smack on the floor, jolting me awake. I heard chuckles and I looked up to see Edward sitting on the couch and Alice and Jasper standing behind it. Then I realized what happened. I had fallen asleep cuddled up next to Edward. I blushed furiously.

"How long have I been out?" I asked, clearing my throat.

"Only about an hour." Edward replied. "Then Alice came and insisted on waking you up."

I groaned. "Where were you all this time anyway, Alice? You disappeared after lunch."

"Oh, Jasper and I just went for a walk." She said, grinning at me. Edward stuck his hand out and helped me up. "Let's go back to our room," Alice said.

"Why don't you girls come to our room tonight?" Emmett asked from the door. Apparently he was done in our room.

"Sure," I said, shrugging. Alice nodded too. "Let's call Rose." I suggested, and Emmett whipped out his cell phone. He dialed her number and stepped out into the hallway to call her.

"So what are we going to do?" Jasper asked. I collapsed onto the sofa and shrugged again.

"Let's play… Truth or Dare!" Alice said excitedly.

"No!" Edward and I said at the same time.

She pouted. "Please?" She asked, jutting out her lower lip and widening her eyes at us.

I looked away to stop myself from giving in. "No," Edward repeated firmly.

"Fine," Alice snapped. "Be that way. Party pooper." She said, crossing her arms over her chest.

Edward rolled his eyes and ignored her.

We ended up just watching a movie and then talking and laughing. At around midnight I said goodbye to Edward at the door. Emmett and Jasper walked us back to our room, not wanting us to go home alone. When we got back to our room, I brushed my teeth and changed into old sweats and a comfy t-shirt. I snuggled under the covers with a smile on my face, thinking of Edward.

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	16. Chapter 15

**So here's the next chapter! This has up till half the concert. Since a lot of people wanted a game of truth ot dare, I included it in this chapter. I'm not going to be able to update for a while, I think, coz I've got exams till the 25th. Its going to be pretty hectic.**

**Thanks for all the reviews!!**

"Alice…" I muttered shaking her. "It's time to get up." Normally the situation was reversed: I would be the one asleep and she would be the one trying to get me up.

She rolled over and groaned, "Go away." Her face was paler than normal, and coated with a light sheen of sweat.

"Why are you all covered up anyway?" I asked, yanking the cover off her. She immediately curled up into a ball and shivered.

"Give it back," she moaned, her hand grasping the empty air. "It's cold."

"Alice, its summer in L.A. You can't be cold." I pointed out.

She just shivered again and clutched her head between her hands. "Headache," she moaned. My hand flew to her forehead.

"Whoa, Alice!" I exclaimed. "You're burning!" I was about to get my cell phone an call Jasper when the door opened and Rosalie walked in with an impatient expression on her face followed by Jasper, Emmett and Edward. "Good you're here," I said to Jasper. "I think she's sick."

Jasper went to her side and laid his hand on her forehead. "What's wrong Alice?" He asked, concern evident in his voice. The others gathered around them, and I followed.

"I'm cold," she muttered. Jasper snatched the cover from my hands and tucked it around her. Rosalie went to her closet and took out a bag which had a thermometer in it. She gave it to Alice who put it under her tongue. When it beeped, she took it out and Jasper looked at it.

"102.7!" He said, switching it off and handing it to Emmett to rinse. "You're going to have to stay in bed today, Alice."

She groaned and asked, "Do I have to?"

"Yes," Emmett answered, sitting on her other side. "You're just going to get worse if you don't take rest."

"But we have to practice," she complained. "The concert is this Thursday."

"Relax, Alice" he said. "We're ready for the concert."

"He's right," Jasper put in. "You're ready, and you need to take rest now." Alice pouted angrily and huffed.

"Fine then," she said, changing tactics. "Leave me here all alone while I'm sick!" She wiped away a couple of tears. They were fake of course; she could turn on the waterworks whenever she wanted. She sighed and turned over so that she was lying on her stomach.

Edward sighed too and spoke for the first time. "I'll stay with her," he offered. "My teacher isn't coming today."

Jasper nodded. "Okay." Then he turned to Alice. "See, you wont be alone. Edward will take care of you, and then I'll skip my second class and come here."

"No," she protested. "Don't skip your class for me. I'll be fine, really."

Jasper silenced her by placing his finger on her lips. "Don't worry," he said. "I don't mind missing a class."

"I can stay during the first class too," I said. "We're not doing much in my violin class."

Edward shrugged. "Fine with me." Emmett, Rose and Jasper agreed so the three of them left, leaving me with Alice and Edward.

I got a washcloth from the closet, wet it, and laid it on Alice's forehead. She murmured a thanks and drifted back to sleep quickly. Edward turned the TV on, but kept the volume low. He started flipping the channels and stopped at a football game. I rolled my eyes and got my copy of Sense and Sensibility to pass time. I read for about half an hour when Edward turned off the TV and spoke. He said, "We're going to be here for another half an hour, so do you want to do something?"

I nodded. "Sure. What do you want to do?"

"Well, I'd like to know more about you… What's your favorite color?"

I looked into his eyes and spoke without thinking. "Green." He smirked, so I quickly added, "But it always changes, so if you were to ask me in a week or so, I'd probably say something else."

"Favorite song?"

"That keeps changing too."

"What is it right now?"

"Hmm… I'd have to say it's Seventeen Ain't So Sweet by the Red Jumpsuit Apparatus."

He nodded. "It's a good song," he agreed. We spent the rest of the time getting to know each other better. When Jasper came, we left together to go to vocals. I went and sat in my place while Edward went to tell the teacher that Alice wouldn't be coming because she was sick.

Class finished quickly, and Edward and I met Rose and Emmett outside. We walked back to our room. Alice's temperature had reduced, but she still had fever, so we decided to stay in our room for the afternoon. Rose, Jasper and I took turns practicing because we were the only one's who could have our instruments in our rooms. I had gotten my piece perfectly; each noted blended into each other to form an intricate melody that sounded really beautiful.

Alice's fever was gone by evening, so we went to the practice room to listen to her and Emmett practice. They sounded really good too. After that we went to listen to Edward. Edward was a natural when it came to music; his fingers flowed freely over the keys. I loved listening to everyone playing and couldn't wait for the concert this Friday. That night we stayed in. Alice really wanted to play truth or dare, so we finally gave in. "I'm choosing first," she said. She looked at everyone, and then asked, "Emmett, truth or dare?"

He puffed out his chest. "Dare."

Alice thought for a minute. "I dare you to propose to the first person who comes down the hall, girl or guy."

Emmett looked shocked for a minute, then said, "Fine," and went outside. All of us pressed our ears against the door to hear clearly. We heard the clicking of high heels and Emmett clearing his throat. Alice, who was peeping out through the keyhole excitedly said, "He's getting down on his knees!"

I heard Emmett's muffled voice on the other side. "Excuse me," he said. "I love you so much, dear. I can't think of any other future than one with you. Will you marry me?"

Alice, unable to take it, erupted into giggles and backed away from the door. "Uhh…" the girl said tentatively. "I don't even know you."

"We can get to know each other," Emmett persisted. "We'll have our whole lives ahead of us."

"Sorry, but I don't even know your name." I heard her start to walk away.

"See you around!" Emmett called out. He came inside and turned on Alice angrily. "There, I did it, happy?"

She nodded. Rosalie was laughing at Emmett. Jasper and Edward were trying to stop themselves from laughing, but they couldn't, and they started laughing too. Emmett looked at me hopefully, but one look at him, and I started laughing too.

"Hmph," he said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Fine, I choose Bella. Truth or dare?"

"Umm… dare." I decided.

"Ooh… Anyone can ask, right?" Alice asked. Emmett nodded. "Okay, Bella, I dare you to kiss Edward!"

"What?" I exclaimed. "Are you serious?" She nodded. "No!"

"Just do it Bella, so we can get on with the game," she said impatiently. I sighed and leaned over to Edward. He was sitting frozen on the spot. I kissed his lightly on the cheek. I felt myself blushing.

"Jasper," I said quickly. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare," he said confidently.

"I know!" Rose said. "I dare you to call Mike and pretend to be Bella, asking him out."

Jasper took my cell phone and called Mike. He put it on speaker phone.

"Hello?" Mike said.

"Hey Mike!" Jasper said in a high voice, a poor imitation of me. "Do you want to go out Mike?"

"Who is this?" Mike asked. "It's Bella's number, but its not her voice…"

Jasper hung up. "There, that's done with. Now, Edward, truth or dare?"

"Truth." Edward said.

"Okay, Edward," Rosalie said. "When was the last time you actually made out with a girl?"

"I never have," he confessed.

"Not even with Tanya?" Rosalie sneered at her name, as if it was something poisonous.

"No. Alice, truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"I dare you to dress in the worst clothes you have, and give yourself the worst makeover possible, and go stand outside for 5 minutes." Edward said, without missing a beat.

Alice paled. "No!" She said.

"Sorry, Alice." Jasper chuckled. "A dare is a dare." Alice got up and stomped her foot. She grabbed some clothes from the closet and went to change in the bathroom. When she came out, she was wearing an ugly knee length pleated brown skirt and a really ugly top. Rosalie grimaced. Then Alice took her makeup, did something really quick with is across her face and went outside. She stood there for five minutes, then came back in.

"3 people saw me!" she wailed. "Well, Rose you're the last person, so truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Hmm… what is the worst you've ever dressed up?"

"Halloween, in grade 9. I dressed up as a ghoul."

"Eww." Shuddered Alice.

"Yeah, I know. It was really bad."

I listened to their conversation, feeling my eyes drooping. I needed to get some sleep. "'Night, guys," I said, hopping up and into bed. "I'm really tired." I was asleep in seconds.

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The week seemed to fly by, and before I knew it, it was Friday afternoon and time to get ready for the dance. Rose and Alice shoved me into the bathroom, telling me not to take too long, but still have a nice and good shower before coming out to get ready and do my makeup. I stepped into the tub and turned the shower on. I washed my hair with my favorite strawberry shampoo, then turned off the water, wrapped a towel around myself and stepped outside. My dress was lying on the bed. It was dark blue, tight around the bodice and then flowing to the floor. I put on the dress and twirled around to show Alice and Rose.

"Perfect!" Alice squealed, clapping her hands. Rose had already worn her dress. It was a blood red halter gown. She looked really pretty. Alice had changed into her clothes for the concert, too. She was dark, skinny jeans and a black t-shirt with silver designs on it. She had put gel on her hair to make it extra spiky. She was wearing dark makeup and lots of silver junk jewelry. In short, she looked like a rock star.

"You look great, guys!" I exclaimed.

"You do too, Bella," Rose said. "Now sit." I sighed and sat down in the chair. Alice began to straighten my hair, while Rose did my makeup. I closed my eyes and let them do their thing. About 20 minutes later, when I opened my eyes, my hair was straight, with curls at the end. I had light makeup on. I thought I looked pretty good.

15 minutes later, all three of us were ready to go. We were half an hour early, but it was okay, because Alice's and Rose's parents were coming and they wanted me to meet them. We were meeting the guys, Mr. and Mrs. Cullen and Mr. and Mrs. Hale at the lawns where the concert was being held. We walked down, Alice with her electric guitar, Rose with her flute and me with my violin. There were lots of people roaming around in pretty dresses and tuxes, but everyone stopped and stared when we walked past. I assumed it was because of Rosalie and Alice, so I tried to make myself look small and insignificant.

When we reached the stage, I saw Edward and Emmett talking to people and Jasper talking to two people a little bit away. Alice skipped up to her parents and gave them a hug, and Rose went to meet her parents. I stood there, unsure of where to go. A few minutes later, Emmett came over to me and pulled me by the hand to meet his parents.

"Bella," Alice said excitedly. "These are my parents. Mom, dad, this is Bella." Alice's mom stepped forward and gave me a hug, and Alice's dad shook my hand. They both looked really young, and then I remembered that all the Cullen children were adopted. Mr. Cullen was blond, and Mrs. Cullen had a heart shaped, motherly face with caramel colored hair.

"We've heard so much about you from our children, Bella," Alice's dad said. "It's nice to finally meet you."

"You look beautiful, Bella," Mrs. Cullen said.

I blushed. "Thank you. It's nice to meet you too, Mr. and Mrs. Cullen."

Mrs. Cullen smiled. "Please, call us Esme and Carlisle."

Rosalie and Jasper joined us along with their parents. Alice hugged Rose's parents too. "These are my parents," Rose said. "Catherine and Joseph."

"You can call us Cathy and Joe, though," Joseph said. "Alice, Emmett and Edward do. Rosalie tells me that your Chief Swan's daughter. I've heard about you from him, and then from Rosalie and Jasper. I never imagined, when Charlie used to tell me about you, that I'd meet you here, of all places."

I laughed. "How is he?" I asked.

"Good. He misses you." I laughed hesitantly and smiled at him. "It's nice to meet you."

"You too, dear." Cathy said.

We chatted with them for a while, and then went to sit down. Violin was 3rd, before that was sax and orchestra. Jasper played his piece first, and everyone loved it. He was definitely the best out of all sax players. There were two orchestra pieces, and then came the violin. Jessica and Eric played theirs, and then it was my turn.

I carried my violin and bow and walked up the stairs to the stage. We had to stand up and play, but my piece wasn't too long, so it didn't really matter. Once I was standing in the middle of the stage, I took a deep breath, and started to play. I closed my eyes and let my hands do all the work. I didn't make any mistake at all, through out the whole thing, and I was relieved for that. Soon, it was finished and I was walking off stage. Everyone clapped for me.

"It was beautiful!" Alice exclaimed, as soon as I reached them. Everyone else complimented me, and I went to sit down next to Edward.

"It sounded really nice," he said sincerely. I thanked him. "By the way," he continued. "I didn't get a chance to talk to you tonight. You look stunning."

I blushed and thanked him again. He looked good himself, the black contrasting perfectly with his pale skin.

The solo drums finished, and now Rose went up to play the flute. When she climbed on stage, lots of people whistled at her, which she just ignored. She finished her piece and walked down.

Next was piano. A few people played, and then Edward was on stage. He looked so good, behind the piano, his fingers creating magic. When he finished playing, and bowed, the crowd erupted into applause. He stayed down near the stage, however. Then I realized that he still had another performance. I had no idea what he was going to do.

Next up was vocals. Once person sang Mandy Moore's Only Hope. She sounded really nice. Then I saw Edward getting on stage and I looked at Alice in shock. She just smiled back at me.

Edward turned the mike on and paused for a second. "This song is for someone very special to me," He announced. "I have known her for only a short time, yet every second I spend with her makes me want more." He paused, and then his eyes sought mine in the crowd. "Bella, this song is for you."

**I tried to put the links to their dresses on my page, but the links don't work. So you're just going to have to imagine their dresses!**

**Review!**


	17. Chapter 16

**Sorry I left you with a cliffhanger- but here's the next chapter! This is THE chapter- the one you've all been waiting for. I'm sorry to one of the reviewers who wanted Fall For You by Secondhand Serenade... I love that song too, but some of the lyrics just don't fit here. Some of you may not like the song that I've chosen, but it's one of my favourites.**

**You should listen to Beautiful Soul by Jesse McCartney while you read this.**

I felt my eyes widen as I took in a sharp breath. Edward, the most handsome, amazing guy on this planet, was singing a song for _me_? I couldn't believe it. I looked at the others, but evidently they were in on all this because right now, Rose, Emmett and Jasper were smirking at me and Alice was beaming at me. I looked back at the stage. Edward was still staring at me, and suddenly I realized that background music was starting. Edward starting singing, his eyes fixed on me, smiling softly.

_I don't want another pretty face,_

_I don't want just anyone to hold._

_I don't want my love to go to waste,_

_I want you and your beautiful soul._

_I know that you are something special_

_To you I'd be, always faithful  
I want to be what you always needed  
Then I hope you'll see the heart in me  
__I don't want another pretty face  
I don't want just anyone to hold  
I don't want my love to go to waste  
I want you and your beautiful soul  
You're the one I wanna chase  
You're the one I wanna hold  
I won't let another minute go to waste  
I want you and your beautiful soul...  
You might need time to think it over  
But I'm just fine, moving forward  
I'll ease your mind  
If you give me the chance  
I will never make you cry, c`mon lets try  
I don't want another pretty face  
I don't want just anyone to hold  
I don't want my love to go to waste  
I want you and your beautiful soul  
You're the one I wanna chase  
You're the one I wanna hold  
I won't let another minute go to waste  
I want you and your beautiful soul...  
Am I crazy for wanting you  
Baby do you feel you could want me too  
There is nothing left to hide_

_Do you see things the way I do?_

_I just wanna know that you feel it too_

_There is nothing left to hide.  
I don't want another pretty face  
I don't want just anyone to hold  
I don't want my love to go to waste  
I want you and your beautiful soul  
You're the one I wanna chase  
You're the one I wanna hold_

_I wont let another minute go to waste  
I want you and your beautiful soul  
I don't want another pretty face  
I don't want just anyone to hold  
I don't want my love to go to waste  
I want you and your beautiful soul...  
Ooooooh...  
Beautiful soul, yeah...  
Oooooh...yeah…  
Your beautiful soul...  
Yeah_

Everyone started clapping for Edward, but his eyes remained on me. Alice pushed me up and I walked down near the stage, my legs shaky and numb. I saw Edward walk off the stage and towards me. Somewhere at the back of my mind I could hear the announcer calling the next person, and the noise of the crowd. But I had eyes only for Edward- who was looking right back at me.

When we finally met, near the stage- it felt like forever, but in reality it was only a minute- I threw myself at Edward, my arms wrapped around his neck, his arms around my waist.

"That was beautiful," I said, once I was out of his arms.

His lips turned up into his crooked grin that made my heart stutter. "Let's go for a walk," he murmured, taking my hand in his. I agreed and we walked away from the stage and audience. We walked in silence for a while on a path lit with dim lights. "I think I should probably explain something's to you," he said, breaking the silence. "Your probably wondering why I acted like such a jerk in the beginning," he told me with a slight smile.

"Yeah, that would be a good start," I replied, smiling back at him.

"I wasn't used to feeling this way," he explained. "It was so surreal- I met you, and I had this longing to be with you, to know you better. I found it pretty weird, since I already had a girlfriend, one who I was pretty happy with before you came along."

I scowled at the mention of Tanya, and Edward chuckled, tracing my cheek with his fingers. "Anyway," he continued. "I think Alice explained to you why I was so rude when we first met- I had just fought with Tanya when you ran into me. After that we made up, decided to become friends. Then guys started asking you out- not a big surprise, seeing how you are so pretty."

I rolled my eyes. "Right," I said sarcastically. He chuckled again- he seemed to be in a good mood.

"You are." He said firmly. I opened my mouth to protest but he cut me off with a stern look. "Do you want me to continue or not?" I nodded sheepishly. "Okay," he said, pulling me a little closer. "When these guys starting asking you out, I got jealous," he admitted.

"You, got jealous?" I asked incredulously. "You have no reason to be jealous of them! They have nothing on you!" I exclaimed.

"Well I didn't know you thought that at that time. I was worried. I thought you might like that Mike," he sneered his name. "Or Eric more than me."

I raised my eyebrows. "Seriously, I can't believe you actually thought that."

He shoved me playfully. "Let me finish, Bella. You're so impatient." I sighed. "Then Tanya came, we fought and made up again. Oh, and when you went to meet Jacob, I was kind of jealous too. Especially when you guys came back and said you had a good time. Then, over time, after Tanya and I broke up, we became closer. My attraction to you became much, much stronger." I blushed when he said this. "I was planning on telling you earlier, but then I thought that this would be the perfect time to tell you how I feel. I've wanted to tell you for a long time."

"Tell me what?" I asked, my voice shaking a little bit. It was so hard to believe that he could feel the same way about me. I had liked him ever since I had come here- and it seems like he had too.

"Bella," he said, stopping and turning so that he was facing me. "I really, really like you." He looked deep into my eyes.

"I like you too, Edward. A lot. More than you can imagine. Probably more than you like me."

"That's not possible," he murmured. "You mean a lot to me…I'm not going to stand being away from you when we have to leave tomorrow. I swear, at the first chance I get, I'm going to get on a plane to Phoenix to visit you."

I smiled. "I look forward to that," I told him.

We stood there for another minute or so, and then he spoke again. "We should probably head back. The dance will start soon."

"Yeah," I agreed. He wrapped his arm around my waist and I leaned into him.

"My parents like you, you know." He mused as we went back the way we had come. "They think you're wonderful. Especially Esme. She adores you."

"She just met me," I pointed out.

"Yeah, but she's heard lots about you form all three of us- Emmett, Alice and I. When I called my parents sometimes I used to go on about you forever. Esme knew before I did that I liked you. And now, when she met you in person, she thinks you're just as nice as how we mentioned you- if not better."

"Your parents are really nice," I said. "You're really lucky to have them as your parents."

"I can't imagine any other people on this planet who are more loving than them. They mean everything to me."

I smiled at the fond tone which he used when he spoke about them. "What are you smiling at?" he asked.

"Nothing. Just the love you have for your parents… You should hear yourself speak about them."

He laughed. We were reaching the concert area now, from where people were slowly making their way to the dance. "Wait, Bella," he said, stopping and holding me back. He ran his hand through his already tousled hair. "I wanted to ask you," he began nervously. "If you would like to consider being my girlfriend… officially?"

I looked up at him shock written across my face. Was he kidding? Of course I did! It was so hard to comprehend everything that was going on tonight… It felt too unreal.

"I know we haven't been out on any dates, like most couples normally do, but we've been together for so long and I just wanted to be able to call you mine…" He started rambling when I didn't answer him right away.

"Shh…" I whispered, placing my index finger on his lips to stop him. "I would love to be your girlfriend."

He smiled from under my finger and took that hand that was on his face in his and kissed it. There was no need for any words to describe how we were feeling at that moment- we would sense it radiating off each other. I was incredibly happy.

We walked back to the stage together where Alice, Rosalie, Jasper and Emmett were waiting anxiously for us. Alice and Rose gave each other high-five's when they saw us walking towards them holding hands.

Jasper and Emmett grinned at us. Emmett gave me a huge hug when we reached them. Jasper gave me a small, one armed hug before Rosalie and Alice pushed him out of the way and tackled me with their hugs.

"I knew it!" Alice exclaimed, bouncing on her feet. "I just knew both of you would get together!"

I grinned and gave her another hug. Edward put his arm around me, giving me a light kiss on my forehead. My forehead tingled at the place where his lips touched my skin.

"Okay, well, Emmett, we have to go change," Alice reminded him.

"Oh yeah…" Emmett said sadly, looking at his rock-star outfit. "I have to wear a tux." He wrinkled his nose.

"Yes, now come!" Alice dragged Emmett away with her. She had a plastic bag which had her dress and Emmett's tux.

"Let's go to the dance," Jasper suggested. "Alice and Emmett will meet us there." We agreed and started walking in that direction. For once I was actually eager to go to a dance- not that I would be doing any dancing- to spend time with Edward.

Edward noticed me smiling. "What happened now?" He asked, his lips turning up into a smile too.

"I'm just happy," I told him.

"I am too," he replied, caressing the side of me cheek with the back of his hand.

I smiled wider and leaned my head on his shoulder, reveling in the moment. It was perfect- it felt natural, being with Edward. It was something I wanted forever. It was something I was going to miss.

**So, finally they're together!!! Review and tell me your thoughts on this chapter!! There's only a couple more chapters left and then the epilauge, but I've decided to do a sequel.**

**Anyway, review!!**


	18. Chapter 17

**Thanks for all the awesome reviews!! I know, its been a while since I updated... sorry!! This chapter is kinda short... Anyway, one more chapter, and then an epilauge. **

We walked hand in hand to the dance. When we got there I collapsed onto one of the chairs. I had no plans of dancing tonight. Edward, Rose and Jasper sat down too. I had chosen a table that seat 6 people, keeping in mind that Alice and Emmett would joining us any minute.

Sure enough, a few minutes after we had sat down, Emmett came strolling up to us in his black suit. He looked awesome in it. He had nothing on Edward, no doubt, but still, he looked good. He looked uncomfortable in it though. He kept fidgeting about with his cuffs and collar and he looked really nervous. "Hey guys," he said, sitting down next to Rosalie.

"Stop fidgeting," Rosalie said.

"You would too, if you were wearing a tux." He shot back. "Besides, it feels weird to wear a tux." He added.

"Don't worry, it looks fine," Alice assured him.

"You're my sister," he reminded her. "You're supposed to say that."

"I second her." I put in, settling their argument. Emmett rolled his eyes.

"Let's go dance," Rose said, pulling him up by the hand. He obliged by wrapping his arm around her and they walked together to the dance floor.

"Let's go too!" Alice said excitedly to Jasper. "You guys will be okay here, right?" Alice asked us.

"Sure." Edward replied, waving at them. We sat for a few minutes in comfortable silence just listening to music. As a slow song started, Edward got to his feet and looked down at me. "Well, Miss Swan, you owe me a dance tonight," He said, smiling his crooked grin.

"Err… I think I'll pass on that one…" I said, trying to keep my expression innocent.

"I don't think so," he replied, a mischievous glint entering his eyes.

"You can't make me," I said, changing tactics.

He smirked at me. "Really? Why don't you watch me make you…?" He bent down as if to pick me up.

"No!" I exclaimed, leaping to my feet. "I'll come, I'll come. Jeez."

He rolled his eyes. "It's going to be fine Bella. I promise."

"Yeah, try saying that _after _I trod on your feet through a major part of the dance," I muttered under my breath, not intending for him to hear.

He did hear though. "I don't care if you step on my feet. Anyway, it's all in the leading."

"Sure, sure." I said apprehensively. He rolled his eyes yet again but chose to ignore my comment. When we reached the place where Alice and Jasper were dancing, he pulled me closer and wrapped his arms around my waist while I wrapped my arms around his neck. We swayed to the music, and I leaned forward and rested my head against his chest. He played with my hair which was hanging all the way to my waist.

"What are you thinking?" He asked suddenly.

"I'm thinking that Mike looks really nice in that suit over there." I said, teasing him.

I felt him tense momentarily, but then when he realized I was joking he relaxed. "Hmm, even Lauren and Jessica look quite good tonight," he replied in the same teasing manner. "But not anywhere close to how you look tonight." He added at the end.

"Don't worry, Mike doesn't come anywhere near you when it comes down to looks." I assured him.

"Thank god. And in other qualities?"

"Hmm…" I pretended to think about it for a minute. "Nowhere close." I said.

He laughed, and I felt the vibration in his chest. It felt nice. "No really," he persisted. "What are you thinking?"

"I was thinking…" I decided to answer truthfully. "How nice it is to be here… with you. I like it."

"I do too."

I lifted my head to look up at him. The passion in his eyes as he looked at me was overwhelming. I felt myself leaning closer and closer. He was too, and soon, the distance between us was closed. Our lips moved in synchronization with each others and too soon we broke apart. We stared at each other for a second, before I lay my head back on his chest.

"Well," he said, breaking the silence that was on the verge of becoming awkward. "I thought that was pretty amazing." He sounded worried for some reason. I looked up to see his brow creased as he looked back at me.

I touched the creases of his forehead as I wondered why he was so worried. "What's wrong?" I asked. "Why are you worried?"

"Well, I mean, it's okay if you didn't enjoy it and all… Its just that was one of the most wonderful moments of my life, but I understand if you don't feel the same way…"He was talking really fast as I realized he did when he was nervous, or anxious.

I cut in. "Edward that was one of the most amazing moments of my life too. I can't tell you how I feel about you… There are no words to describe it."

He pressed his lips lightly to mine again and then pulled my closer again. I rested my head back against his chest.

We stayed like that for a while longer, just soaking in each others presence before Rosalie came and pulled us apart. "Guys, its time to go."

"What time is it?" I asked, startled.

"It's already 12," she informed me. We followed her to our table where Alice was collecting her things. Edward wrapped his arm around me and we walked to where there was a fork in the road, one going down to the guy's dorms and the other to ours.

"We'll go from here," Alice said, giving Jasper a peck on the lips.

"But it's really late and you girls are alone…" Jasper looked worriedly at us.

"Its fine," Alice reassured him. "There are lots of people walking around." She gestured to the many people who were walking back to their dorms after the dance.

"Okay then…" He decided. "But be careful."

"Yeah, yeah. Let's go girls." Alice stood waiting for me and Rose.

"Be safe." Edward whispered beside me. "Good night."

"Good night." I kissed him on the cheek. The three of us walked back to our dorms in silence. I think they were waiting to give me the full force of their questions when we were back in our room.

As I predicted, as soon as I had come out of the shower and settled myself on my bed, Alice turned her gaze to me and switched off the TV.

"So... What's this I'm seeing between you and Edward?" She lifted her eyebrows curiously.

"Umm… Well you obviously knew about the fact that he was going to sing." I glared at her and Rosalie accusingly.

"Guilty," Rosalie claimed without any regret.

"And then?" Alice asked impatiently.

"Then we went for a walk. And he told me that he likes me a lot." Alice squealed. I continued, "I told him I liked him too. He asked me to be his girlfriend. I said yes. End of story." I finished.

Alice pouted. "What else did you guys talk about?"

"Hmm… Well he explained to me why he didn't talk to me before."

"Did you guys kiss?" Rosalie asked.

"Uh… yeah." I admitted, blushing.

"Seriously?" Alice asked excitedly. I nodded.

"This is so cool," Rose said. "Now everyone in our group is evenly paired up. Sad part is, we have to leave tomorrow."

I nodded again, without speaking. I didn't want to be reminded of leaving tomorrow. It hurt too much, to think about the five of them going back to Forks together when I had to go back to Phoenix.

Alice, sensing my sadness, came over to sit near me. She wrapped her tiny arm around my shoulder. "Don't worry, Bella," she said in a soothing voice. "We can keep in touch. And we'll come visit you in the Christmas break. I promise."

Rose joined us, and the three of us sat together in a group hug for a while. When I felt a little better, I broke out of their embrace. "Come on, guys. We can't spend our last night together moping."

"You're right," Rose agreed, hopping off the bed. "Let's have some fun!"

We put on our current favorite movie, Aqua Marine and settled down to watch it. In a way, the ending sort of reminded me of us. Two best friends that had to be separated because one of them was moving away.

We finished watching the movie and then turned on the stereo softly. We were listening to Dido's Life For Rent. Rosalie and Alice told me all about their life in Forks, about their school and the other kids there.

When it was getting really late and all of us were yawning, we decided it was time to go to bed.

"Good night," I called, snuggling under my covers. I was restless at first, thinking of how it was going to be when I was back in Phoenix. It wouldn't be the same. Finally, I drifted off to sleep, still saddened, sub consciously, about tomorrow.

**I'll try to get the next chapter up soon... but I also have my other story, Finding True Love. Also, I'm starting a new story, Because You Live soon. I'll let you know when I put that up.**

**Don't forget to review!!**


	19. Chapter 18

**Hey everyone!! I updated this pretty quickly- because I was finished with it. I couldn't think of anything to write- so this chapter is pretty short. Anyway, I have the epilauge planned, and hopefully, it will be longer.**

I rolled over and pushed the covers as I tried to unglue my eyelids. When they finally opened, I looked over to see Alice and Rosalie quickly, but methodically packing things into their suitcases.

"Good morning, Bella!" chirped Alice. "Better get out of bed quick. We're leaving after lunch, remember?"

I nodded. "I'll be up in a minute." I closed my eyes again. Then after what felt like 5 seconds, I felt myself being shaken.

"Bella! It's been five minutes! If you don't get up now, you won't be able to get packed in time," Rosalie said.

I groaned and hauled myself out of bed. Glaring at Rose and Alice for getting me out of bed, I stumbled to the bathroom. I brushed my teeth and washed my face, but that felt so good that I decided just to have a shower. I quickly put on a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved light green blouse.

Coming out of the bathroom, I headed straight to my closet, where I took out my suitcases. Luckily, Alice had bought me a new suitcase so I could fit in all my new stuff. We had already sold the furniture we bought.

I started taking my clothes out. I folded them and placed them neatly in my suitcase. We were all working in silence, except for the occasional conversation or someone asking where something is. After I finished packing my clothes I moved on to my CD's, then my books, than all other stuff like hair bands. Soon, I was done. It had taken a while though- it was already noon. We would be going for lunch soon.

Mom called. She was ecstatic that I was coming back today. She chattered on about Phil and his baseball. She told me about a new yoga class she was going to- she wanted me to join too. I refused. I told her I would see her in the evening, and hung up.

We didn't know what to do- personally, I was too sad to try and hold up a conversation, even though I should have, seeing this was our last day together. About half an hour later of just moping around in silence, Alice's cell phone rang. She looked at the caller ID, and then answered it. "Hi."

The other person said something to which Alice replied, "No we'll meet you there in five minutes."

She listened for a minute. "Okay. See you."

"Who was it?" Rosalie asked.

"Jasper," she replied. "Let's go."

We locked the room and walked to the cafeteria, Alice telling us about the shopping she wanted to do for her junior year wardrobe.

"You're lucky, Bella," Rosalie commented as we neared the cafeteria. I looked at her with a puzzled expression on my face. "She won't have you to drag to the mall. Which means that I'll be stuck with her for all the shopping trips." She explained.

I didn't bother to say that going for tons of shopping trips with Alice would be way better than being away from them.

By the time we reached the cafeteria the guys had already got their food and were sitting at our normal table. We went and got some food; I just took a sandwich.

"Hi, Bella," Edward said, smiling warmly at me when we sat with them. I smiled back at him, my mood lifting considerably.

"Hey Edward," I replied.

"I'm going to miss this place," Rosalie said fondly, staring around at the murky green walls of the cafeteria. "We've been coming here every summer for the last two years, but from next summer, we won't be able to."

"Why?" I asked.

"This program is only for people in high school," Jasper explained.

"Yeah. And we're starting our senior year now." Emmett added. "But you, Alice and Edward will be able to come back."

"If I get selected," I reminded him.

"With your voice and violin talents, there's no way they're not going to let you in," Emmett said kindly.

"Thanks," I murmured, a light pink tingeing my cheeks.

"I remember when I met Bella here," Emmett said, laughing. I blushed. "You tripped- like you always do." More laughter. I turned even redder. "And you looked like a tomato- just like how you do now."

"Leave her alone," Edward said with fake sternness. "Her blushing is cute."

"Only to you," Jasper muttered.

Lunch finished too soon. Before I knew it, we were heading back to the dorms to put all our stuff in our cars and leave. My fingers felt numb as I put my violin in its case and picked up my entire luggage to take it down.

We were meeting the boys in front of the main building. I drove carefully behind Rosalie's BMW, trying not to let any emotion show on my face. When we reached there, I saw Edward leaning against his Volvo, his face somber.

I got out of my truck and walked over to him quickly. He wrapped his arms around me, and we stood like that for a few minutes. All too soon, he released me from his arms.

"It's time to leave, Bella," he said gently. I could see the sadness in his eyes as he said it. I'm sure I had a similar expression on my face as I looked at everyone.

Alice came forward and locked her arms tightly around me in a hug. I held her close to me, feeling the water start to well up in my eyes. Next, I was gathered up into a hug by Emmett, who had also started crying. I hugged Rosalie and Jasper, the tears finally brimming over.

I saved Edward for last. Walking back to him, I stood on my tip-toes and pressed my lips against his. Then I hugged him for the last time.

"Good bye, Edward," I whispered, my voice hoarse from crying.

"Bye, Bella," he whispered back. I gave one last hug to Alice and Rosalie before sitting in my truck.

Then, I drove out of their sight, tears streaming down my face.

**THE END!!**

**Sort of. There's still the epilauge- you know, Bella being all depressed in Phoenix and all.**

**Review!! I want more reviews before I update the epilauge!**


	20. Epilogue

**Okay, here it is! But, to answer a couple of questions first, there IS going to be a sequel. And this story is having a happy ending- I love them too! As to why there's not much fluff between Bella and Edward, that's the way I planned to have this story. They get together right at the end of the summer, but in the sequel there will be more fluff between them.**

**A lot of you guessed what was going to happen- I guess it was just predictable.**

**Thanks for all the awesome reviews!!**

I came to a stop in front of the house and got out swiftly, hurrying up the driveway to the door. I rang the doorbell and waited. Finally, she opened the door.

"Bella!" Alice exclaimed excitedly, giving me a big hug. "It's so great to see you!"

"You too, Alice! Where is everyone?" I asked, peering curiously around her.

"They're at Rose's house," she replied, grabbing me by the hand and dragging my inside.

"Oh," I said, a little disappointed. "When are they coming here?"

"I'll call them soon and tell them to come over. Anyway, how have you been in these last couple of weeks?" She asked.

It had been 2 and half weeks since we left L.A. After I got back to Phoenix, I had thought about it a lot and decided that I wanted to move in with Charlie. It wasn't too hard to make that decision, even though I hated Forks. Edward, the other Cullen's and the Hales made the choice much easier. Mom was sad, of course, that I was moving to Forks, but she understood, seeing how she knew about the Cullen's and Hale's. "I've been ok," I replied honestly. "But I'm better now."

She grinned widely at me. "Okay, let's not waste any time. I'll call them and tell them to come over right now."

"Sure," I said smiling. "Where should I wait?"

"Hmm," she said thinking. "You can wait in Edward's room. I'll send him up there when he comes."

"How?" I asked, following Alice up the big staircase. Edward's room was on the third floor.

"You'll see," she winked and closed the door behind me as I turned around to look at the room in front of me. There was a bed in the corner of the room, which was neatly fixed. The entire back wall of the room was glass. On the right side, there was a black leather couch that could seat three, and beside it a small stand with a stereo.

On the opposite wall to that, there was a huge CD stand. I walked over, looking at all the CD's he had. There was everything, ranging from classical to rock. He had music right from the 40's till the latest bands, including the CD's he had bought in L.A.

He also had a desk in another corner of the room, which had mostly music sheet's of different songs and some which appeared to be his own compositions. On the table was also a picture of me that Alice had taken once, framed by a simple silver photo frame.

Then I heard the doorbell ring, and I smiled to myself at the thought of seeing Edward again. I crept quietly to the door and pressed my ear against it.

"Hey guys!" I heard Alice call to them enthusiastically. They greeted her back. "Oh, Edward, a letter from Bella came," she said casually. "I put it upstairs in your room. On your desk." I smiled to myself again. So that was how Alice planned to get Edward to my room.

"Okay," I heard Edward's velvety voice reply. "Let me go put these bags in the kitchen and I'll go read it."

"Bring it down so we can see it too," I heard Emmett call. "I miss her a lot," he added.

I heard footsteps on the stairs and I went to sit down on the couch, my excitement increasing even more. I was trying hard to sit still; it was all I could do to not open the door and go running to Edward.

Then I heard the door open, and Edward walked in, right past me, directly to his desk. He frowned in confusion. I cleared my throat purposefully, and he turned around, startled by the sudden sound.

"Bella?" He asked, still surprised. I nodded, my smile never leaving my face. "How…?" He trailed off, still staring at me as if he couldn't believe I was sitting in front of him. Then, he broke out into the widest grin I had ever seen on him, and walked towards me. I got up, and he crushed me into a hug.

I wrapped my arms around him as tight as I could, never wanting to let go. Finally, we let go of each other, and I looked up at him. He was stilling grinning, although it looked like he still couldn't believe I was there.

"I decided to move in with Charlie," I informed him. "So now I'll be finishing high school here, with you guys."

"That's great, Bella," he said, his eyes burning with sincerity. "You have no idea how glad I am that you're here. I've missed you so much in the last couple of weeks. I didn't know it was possible to miss anyone that much. When you left, it felt like you were taking away a piece of me with you."

"I've missed you a lot, too," I told him. "Everyday, every second, I was thinking of you, remembering all our good times together."

"You don't have to just remember now. We can make more good memories."

"That's fine with me," I said smiling. I leaned forward and kissed him, moving my lips against his.

I stood in his arms for a few more minutes before he sighed and pushed me away from him. "Emmett, Rose, Jasper and Alice are going to kill me if I don't take you down right now. They've all missed you a lot too."

I pouted at him. "Let's stay here for a while," I suggested.

"As much as I would love that, I think it would only be fair to them this way… Besides, we have lots of time in the future to be together. Starting from now."

"Fine," I said, sighing. "But if Alice decides to torture me with her shopping or make over, I swear, I'll be out of here in no time. I'm not leaving your side today."

"That's fine with me," he replied, repeating my earlier line.

We walked downstairs, slowly. As much as I liked Emmett, I didn't particularly enjoy getting my bones crushed.

As soon was we walked into sight, Rosalie was off the couch and sweeping me into her arms. "Bella!" She exclaimed. "I've missed you so much! I can't believe your actually here!"

Before I could respond, I Emmett grabbed me out of Rosalie's arms and pulled me into a bone crushing hug. "Bella!" he said joyfully. "You're finally here! I knew it; you couldn't stand being away from the great Emmett, right?" He teased playfully.

"Yeah, sure, Emmett." I replied, giving Jasper a hug, who was waiting patiently beside Alice.

"Good to see you Bella," he said softly.

Alice hugged me again. "What was that for?" I asked her, raising my eyebrows.

"Well, everyone was hugging you, and I felt left out. Besides, I'm your friend, cant I hug you?" She asked.

I laughed. "Of course you can, Alice." I followed them to the couch where I sat snuggled up against Edward. It was so nice to be back with him, and the others. I told Rosalie, Emmett and Jasper about my moving to Forks, which pleased all of them immensely. It made me happy, seeing them glad at the fact that I was staying in Forks.

I looked at Edward to find him watching me a small smile on his face. "What?" I asked quietly.

He shook his head. "Nothing."

I looked at everyone else in the room, wrapped up in their own conversations, with a smile on my face. Being in with them in Forks, even though I hated the place, was enough to make me happy. I snuggled closer to Edward, and he tightened his arm around me in response.

It was natural to be with him. I wouldn't want it any other way, for now, and maybe even for the rest of my life.

**Please, review! This is the end of the story, so drop in a little comment on how you think it went. Also, check out my new story Because You Live. **

**I'm not sure when I'll put up the sequel, but I'll let you know when I do!**


	21. Sequel!

**Hey everyone! Just wanted to let you know that the sequel is up! Go check it out!**


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